


Strange Karma

by Shraider



Category: Grand Theft Auto V, RT/AH, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Fake AH Crew, Friendship, Gen, No Romance, Ryan joins the crew, The Vagabond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-06-03 13:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6612391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shraider/pseuds/Shraider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Vagabond is a notorious Mercenary, otherwise nicknamed the Mad Merc and known to always work alone.<br/>It's strange how one simple moment can kick start an entire crazy string of events.<br/>The universe works in mysterious ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to hell.

Setting his few items on the end of the counter, the merc shifted from foot to foot as his tired blue eyes lazily watched the clerk help the customer in front of him. Considering the time of day, which was, according to the clock on the wall almost midnight, it surprised him that there was a line at all.

The establishment was of average size, not big enough to be called a super mart but almost too big to be considered a gas station, which it was. But it was a Sunday and one of the few places close to his tiny house that was open this late at night. Growing impatient as the man in front of him counted out change in frustratingly slow motion, his thoughts wandered to the events of his day. And like many of his days, it had included murder. Another job, another hit completed, another mark for his growing notoriety. 

The merc sighed when finally the man in front of him stepped away. Had he been wearing his mask or even his war paint, he might have actually drawn the gun tucked in the small of his back and popped the guy straight in the head. Then again, had he been wearing his mask, he’d probably just have stolen what he wanted rather than wait in line. Pushing his items under the protective glass for the clerk to scan, the merc’s gaze drifted across the mart. 

Despite the time, there was yet another person in the store; a blonde man who was just stepping over to the register behind him and cradling a whole array of booze and snacks in his arms. Dark sunglasses were pushed up on top of his head, slightly flattening his spiked hair. Accidentally catching his gaze, the merc nodded a greeting which was reciprocated before quickly turning away. 

“That’ll be 6.75.” The cashier droned on, spurring the merc to pat down his pocket for his wallet. Or rather…pat down the empty pockets that his wallet should have been in. Groaning, the merc realized exactly where it was. After returning home he’d shed the still blood splattered leather jacket along with his mask and face paint before heading back out for something fast to eat. 

“Damn it…” He swore, his voice mostly containing fatigue and exasperation than real anger. Shaking his head he met the clerks eyes and was about to explain when someone brushed past his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry mate, I’ve got it.” 

Looking up surprised, the merc watched as the blonde man unloaded his arms next to his own measly purchases. The voice was accented which he hadn’t been expecting. British. “That’s really not necessary.” 

“It’s not a lot of money. Don’t worry about it.” The britt smiled as he withdrew a wallet from his own pocket and handed the clerk his card. 

“Wow, uhhh… thanks.” The merc rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment watching as the younger man punched in his pin. 

Finishing up and slipping his card back into his wallet, the blonde handed him the few items that weren’t his own; a box of diet coke and a couple of microwave meals. He then gathered up his own things and nodded to the merc once more. “Cheers.” 

Watching the britt leave with bewilderment, the merc considered what had happened a moment longer before shrugging his shoulders and leaving the store as well. 

\-----  
Dropping his purchases in the passenger seat of his car, the britt slid into the driver’s seat all the while thinking about the next day. If all went well, he and the crew would be set, perhaps not for life, but really properly set. That was generally what happened when you robbed a bank. 

But he couldn’t help but worry that things wouldn’t go completely as plan. There were only five of them after all. It was one of the reasons he’d offered up the measly seven bucks to pay for the poor saps groceries moments before. He could use all of the good karma he could get. It wasn’t that he particularly believed in that crap, but he figured it certainly couldn’t hurt. 

Throwing the car in reverse, Gavin very carefully drove back to the flat the rest of the crew were holed up in. They only had a few hours of planning left before they needed sleep. Exhaustion on a heist day wasn’t good for anyone.  
\-----

Elbow rested on the edge of the steering wheel and head in his hand, the merc was just about ready to swerve onto the sidewalk even if that meant mowing down pedestrians. He was supposed to be casing the location of his next hit. But instead he had been stuck at the same red light for almost 5 minutes now. He’d watched it turn from green to red about four times. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of sirens up ahead did he realize exactly why traffic was at a standstill. 

Perking up, the merc kept his sharp gaze up ahead as traffic finally started to crawl forward. Waiting for the car in front of him to move out of the way enough for him to peal around it, he did just that. With morbid curiosity getting the better of him, he ran the scenario’s through his mind of what the commotion was. A bomb threat? A fire? It was then that the sound of heavy gun fire reached his ears even through the closed windows of his car. Ah, a robbery of some sort then.  
Creeping up just passed the parked cop cars enough to see what was going down, the merc peered out his passenger side window for a clearer look. A bank robbery no less!! 

The group that took on this job must have some balls. He ran the names of the prominent crews through his head. But there were so many in the crime ridden city, he couldn’t even imagine what the answer to that question was. 

Cops were swarming the place, the sound of gunfire and sirens loud in his ears. With his curiosity sated, the merc figured he’d lingered just about long enough. Even as it was, he risked some well meaning officer catching a glimpse of his masked face through his tinted windows and dragging him into the whole mess.

His gloved hand was just shifting his car into gear when he caught sight of a blonde head pop out from cover to unload a few rounds into the police. It disappeared again quickly enough when the cops returned fire. The merc immediately hesitated, hand lifted from the stick shift as his mind went into overdrive. 

What were the goddamn chances that in all of Los Santos, the very man who helped him out the night before was a part of whatever heist was going on. What were the chances that he had forgotten his wallet only for that very man to decide to help him out. And what were the chances that he would be in this very spot, at this very time, to see him about to be shredded by a very angry group of polices’ bullets.  
Because that was what was about to happen. 

The britt was pinned down, in cover but not able to get away. There about eight cops bearing down on his position, and with the fight he was putting up, there wasn’t much of a chance that he’d come out of it alive. 

Not having much time to think it over, the merc came to a snap decision. Reaching into the foot well of his back seat and withdrawing the semi-automatic he kept there, he swung open his door. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the years of training and experience took over.

Slipping around the low cover of his car around its back, the merc closed the distance between himself and the blonde. Stepping out still unnoticed, he then lifted his weapon and let loose. The spray of bullets into the un-expecting cops backs downed every one of them with different levels of flying blood. For a moment there was only silence in the immediate area. 

Ignoring most of the commands Geoff was yelling into his earpiece, Gavin was mostly, if not entirely focused on how he’d get out of this particular mess. He shouldn’t even have been on scene, being the resident tech guy. But after some unfortunate complications, he’d ended up having to storm the bank right alongside Geoff and Michael.  
But that was only the beginning of the heist going to shit. It started with an alarm none of them had accounted for going off and alerting the police way earlier than anticipated. Then the vault had gave them trouble (which was what got Gavin in on the action). And then Jack, who was supposed to be their pick up in a helicopter had been forced into a police chase by more than one police chopper. Which meant of course, without Jack they needed another means of escape. That was how Gavin ended up outside of the bank trying to get to the van he’d originally set up in.  
Of course there was always Ray, but at the moment he was the only one without any heat, and the only one who could possibly cover Michaels and Geoff’s escape with the money. 

“I’m pinned down, boys…” Gavin spoke quietly into the headset, voice panicked as he reloaded his second last clip into his handgun. 

“Jack, what’s the estimate on that evac!?” Geoff’s much louder and also panicked voice rang through the headpiece followed closely by their friend’s feminine voice. 

“Still got heat. Two choppers on me. I’m sorry guys, hold on for a little longer.” 

“I’m not sure I’ve got much longer.” The britt whispered quietly, peering around his cover just enough to unload a round of wild shots at the advancing police. He ducked back just in time for the return fire to whiz by him.

“Gav, just hang on, I’m coming to you.” This time it was Michael’s loud and worried voice to speak in his ear. “Hang on!” 

Suddenly there was the sound of an automatic weapon unleashing just beyond Gavin’s cover, followed immediately by the shrieks and pained cries of dying men. “Michael, that was fast...” The blonde observed before peering out once more. 

“Damn, what? Shit, there are cops, I can’t get to you, Gav. Just hold on!” The sight before him was almost enough to miss his friend’s words in his ear.

Standing among the fallen and bloody bodies of eight dead police officers was the Vagabond, the Mad Mercenary himself. Gavin hadn’t ever met the man, none of the Fake AH crew had. But he knew immediately that’s who stood before him. With the black skull mask hiding his face and the death that was brought with chaotic precision, his reputation certainly preceded him. 

The blonde was barely able to sputter a word as the Vagabond suddenly descended upon his position. Squeaking and raising his gun towards the Merc, he actually prompted the man to raise his hands, one of them still clutching his automatic. 

“Whoa, chill out. I just saved your ass and would prefer not to be shot.” 

The baritone voice that emanated from behind the toothy grin of the mask wasn’t at all what Gavin expected. Lowering his gun slightly as the Merc ducked behind cover as well, the britt didn’t dare lower his guard. 

“Gav! Gav, you ok? What’s going on?” It was Geoff’s voice again. “We got out through the back but there are a lot of cops.”

“Yeah, I’m…I’m good. I’ll try and get to you.” He answered back carefully, eying down the man who was blind firing towards the second wave of police advancing on them. 

“You on comm?” The Vagabond drew his weapon to his chest once more, turning piercing and calculating blue eyes on the blonde. “What’s the situation? This is terrible cover, we have to move.”

“Wait, why are you helping me?” Gavin still couldn’t shake the amounts of shock that came with coming face to face with the Vagabond. And despite the chaos ensuing around him he couldn’t help his curiosity. 

“Karma.” The merc simply answered before getting back down to business. “I’ll cover you, head around the bank. We’ll make it up as we go.” 

Gavin was beginning to understand why people called the Vagabond ‘mad’. One would have to be a few bricks short of a load to be as completely calm and collected as he was in a situation quite this severe. But he supposed that he didn’t really have any other choice. Cut off from the rest of the crew, he’d have to put his blind trust in the merc. The only other option was to be executed by the LSPD. 

Swallowing, the britt waited for the next round of fire from the Vagabonds weapon before making a break for it back and around the bank. A moment later, the masked man followed suit.  
As he rounded the corner, the merc didn’t even think as he grabbed onto the blondes jacket. “No time to stop.” He huffed, dragging the britt along beside him as they ran. A bullet suddenly hit the bank to their left, causing the Vagabond to shove Gavin behind the cover of an alcove before returning fire. 

When the two cops who’d rounded the corner behind them fell dead, he grabbed hold of the blonde’s jacket once more. “Move, come on.” 

“Gav? You ok? Where are you? We gotta go!” Gavin had almost tuned out the chatter in his ear up until that point. But it was the sheer worry in Geoff’s voice when he spoke his name that made him catch the words. 

“I’m fine! Just get out! I’ll meet up with you.” He responded, chancing a quick glance at the man beside him. This was going to be one hell of a story to tell the crew when all of this was over. 

“Here.” The Vagabond ducked into an ally where someone had parked a motorcycle. Not the smartest choice when it came to police chases. But it was already in the cover of the ally and they were the quickest for him to hotwire. 

“You’re joking!” The britt’s voice raised an octave when the merc mounted the bike. “You really are mad.” 

“Well I mean, you can always stay here if you want.” The Vagabond deadpanned as he concentrated on the wires. A moment later the engine revved to life. He turned and for the first time looked the britt in the eyes. “What’s your name, I never caught it.” 

“Gavin.” The blonde answered nervously. The sheer intensity of the blue eyes peering out from behind the skull mask was unnerving.  
“Ok Gavin.” The merc spoke as if he were addressing a child. “Can you ride a motorcycle?” 

The condescension wasn’t lost on the blonde, but considering who he was talking too, Gavin thought that it was probably best he let it slide. “Yea.” 

“You drive, I shoot.”  
\-----

Of all the ways Gavin had predicted this heist might have went, swerving around cars and evading cops on a motorcycle with the infamous Vagabond clinging to his back and focusing on returning fire was not one of them. 

“I’m on my last clip.” The Merc almost had to shout to be heard over the wind and the sirens. “Where’s your crew, if you get to them I can lose the fuzz alone; spread the heat.” He still couldn’t believe he was doing this. He had begun to regret this decision somewhere in between rounding the corner of the bank and hot wiring the bike they were on.  
It was normally against his code to get involved in matters that weren’t his own. Not to mention ones that brought a lot of police attention. It wasn’t that he hadn’t dealt with cops on his tail before, it was that his specially was more along the lines of killing people silently.

“Geoff!?” Gavin shouted over the comm at the merc’s prompt. “Where are you?” 

“We got a van. Just picked up Ray.” His leaders voice rang clearly through the earpiece. “Travelling down Fifth.” 

“That’s two blocks over. I’m on a bike, I’ll head your way.” 

“Did you say you were on a bike?” Ray chimed in in disbelief. 

“Gavin, what the fuck!?” And then Michael, of course. 

“I’m- Just- …I’m coming to you!” The britt was not prepared to try and explain how any of this had come to pass. Not until they were somewhere where bullets weren’t flying past them every few minutes. 

Just as he jerked the bike right down an adjacent street, there was more gun fire from the cops behind them followed by a grunt of pain in his ear. “Oi!? You hit?” 

“ ‘Mm fine, just keep going.” The shot had indeed just grazed his arm and the body armor that he was wearing under his leather jacket had already saved him from a shot connecting with his shoulder. But pain was something he could easily overlook in the heat of the moment. And even when he wasn’t running off adrenaline, it didn’t bother him as much as it did some. 

Turning onto Fifth, it became apparent very quickly that the majority of the LSPD were following behind the rest of the crew. As they turned the corner, they were met once again by a procession of police just on their tail. Up ahead was a white panelled work van, it’s doors swung open with Michael and Ray both aiming weapons out the back. 

“Gavin…” Ray spoke first at the sight of them, his voice slow and questioning. “Who…” 

“What the f-“ Michaels voice cut in but trailed off. 

“That can’t be who I think it is.” Ray cut back, his voice distracted this time and he fired a well placed round into one of the following cop cars causing it to swerve and collide with a second. 

“What? What is it?” Geoff, who was driving, was oblivious to the temporary sixth member of the receiving end of the police chase. 

“Well, Gav is coming up on us except it appears he’s got the goddamn Vagabond with him.” Ray answered. 

“What?” Both Geoff and Jack who had been listening in both spoke at once. Despite the chopper chase that was just coming to a close, the crew’s second in command was still keeping an ear on the comm. 

“Story for another time, boys.” The britt answered, well aware of the number of police behind them but not daring to glance back. The Vagabond was looking after the defense portion of this chase anyway. “Got room for me on board?” 

“For you, yeah.” Even from fifteen feet behind them on the road, Gavin could see his friend’s furrowed brow. 

“Geoff, we need to stop for Gav to hop on.” Ray’s voice of reason spoke over the comm. 

“Gotcha.” Their leader’s voice responded.

After a few more minutes of the stressful chase of the busy inner city roads and clip after clip of bullets unloaded later, the van and following bike had momentarily lost the cops. Swerving into a secluded and hidden allyway, both came to a stop. 

Not having much time before the chase resumed, Gavin hopped off the bike and turned to the merc as he slid up to drive himself. “I dunno why you helped me but…Thanks mate.”

Having listened to Gavin’s conversation over the comm, the Vagabond had finally managed to place the names spoken to one particular gang.

“Fake AH.” He spoke with a nod, pulling out a business card from his inner jacket. It had nothing on it but an email address reading ‘bmVagabond@gmail.com’ and a literal smear of blood. Handing it to the blonde who gingerly took it, the Vagabond spoke again. “If you ever need any of my…services…Contact me.” He chose the word carefully, leaving the invitation rather vague before turning the bike and pealing back out of the lane. 

“Gav come on!” 

The britt didn’t even need the comm to hear his friends shouting at him. Turning away from the departing merc, Gavin joined his the rest of the crew in the back of the van.  
\-----  
Having missed all of his plans that day the Vagabond had instead spent the majority of the afternoon trying to figure out how to lose an army of police. Two vehicle changes and hours later, he’d eventually done it by ducking into the open subway and hiding amongst the service tunnels. 

By the time he emerged the sun was already setting and it was midnight by the time he stepped into the small house he rented. 

Fishing out his first aid kit as a first order of business, the merc pulled off his mask before gingerly pulling off his jacket. Most of the sleeve was slick with blood. It was just a flesh wound, barely a graze, but enough that it probably needed stitches. It was unfortunate that body armor didn’t extend to ones arms. 

Settling down to care for and stitch his arm, the merc let his thoughts drift to the events of the day. He had indeed regretted his choice to assist Gavin and the Fake Ah crew. But…as much as he didn’t want to admit it….He hadn’t felt quite the thrill he had working with that team for years. 

When he first started out, working as a mercenary used to be incredible. Every job….every hit….it was like it gave him a high. But now….years later, the job had almost become…mundane. The only thrill he got nowadays was from the fear in people’s eyes at the mere mention of his name; ‘The Vagabond’, ‘The Mad Mercenary’, and most recent and definitely his favourite, ‘The Mad King’.

Now, thinking back, one of his only real regrets of the day was losing his car. He’d actually really liked that damn car…. 

Gritting his teeth as he slipped the needle through his skin to complete the last stitch, the merc tied it off and huffed a breath. Now that that was dealt with he finally acknowledged the ache in his shoulder. Unstrapping the body armor and inspecting it with tired eyes, he picked out the slug that was embedded in the material. He didn’t need a mirror to know that his entire back and shoulder was probably darkened to mottled black and purple. “Lovely.” He spoke to himself dropping the flattened bullet on the table beside his mask before he then made his way to the bathroom to clean up. 

It was only after his warpaint was also gone, did he take the time to grab a diet coke from the fridge and sit down to check his email. It was the primary way he clients contacted him, the anonymity of it affording him certain levels of mystery. As of the moment, he had three unread messages. One about a job he’d already taken, the second a job offer, and the third…. ‘Interesting.’  
\-----  
As the Fake AH crew worked on losing the cops, they had made a deal that they wouldn’t talk about what had happened until they were safe. Now, all of them different levels of banged up but all of them mostly ok, was the crew finally filing into Geoff’s flat and their primary base of operations. 

“Ok. Before we talk about how badly that went to shit…” He turned his attention solely on Gavin who had dropped tiredly on the couch. “What the fuck, Gavin?”

“That couldn’t have actually been the Vagabond.” Ray dropped down beside Gavin, kicking his feet up on the table in front of him.

“I dunno, boys.” The britt furrowed his brow as he ran the events of the day through his head. “I was right properly screwed back there. And right when I thought I wasn’t gonna make it, he showed up.”

“Ok, for arguments sake, let’s say it was him.” This time it was Jack who spoke. She was arguably the most injured of all of them, having her chopper go down rather hard. Luckily it hadn’t went up in flames and the only injuries she’d been left with was a cut on the head that resulted in blood running down her face and a possibly broken arm. “Why the hell would be help us. If we know anything about him and his reputation, helping anyone for nothing isn't his style.” 

“So what, do you know the guy?” Michael chimed. The demolitions expert was leaning against the opposite wall, arms crossed and frowning. They had come damn close to losing Gavin today and that scared the shit of him. Hearing his best friends panicked voice over the comm earlier and not being able to get to him had shaken the man considerably. 

“No!” The blonde squawked almost defensively. “Never seen him before in my life. New immediately it was him though.” He paused before reaching into his shorts pocket and withdrawing the business card. It was slightly crumpled now but still legible. He wondered vaguely if the blood on it was the Vagabond’s own or some victim….probably a victim. “He did give me this though before sodding off.” He offered up the small piece of paper to his boss. 

Taking the card and squinting slightly at the words, Geoff then read it aloud. “BM Vagabond….” He paused turning his eyes to look around the room. “How would you lot feel about contacting this motherfucker, hm?” 

\-----  
From: Geoff Ramsey 

Mr. Vagabond,  
It’s come to my attention that you saved one of my boys today and assisted in our bank job. I’m interested to know why.  
I’m also interested in discussing a job offer, face to face.  
Meet? 

\-----

 

With the rest of the crew reading over his shoulder as he typed, it was Jack that spoke up first. “What do you mean by that? A job offer?” 

Pursing his lips for a moment, Geoff swiveled around in his chair to address the crew. “So even if this guy isn’t the real deal. And let’s say he is for a minute, we know for a fact that he’s tough as dicks. Gav, can attest to that.” The britt nodded, raising his brows at the words as his boss continued. “Well I say, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have him on our side.”

“So what, you mean hire him?” Ray was the only one who hadn’t gotten off the couch to crowd around Geoff at the computer. 

The Fake AH leader was silent for a moment, his expression becoming serious. “How would you all feel about another member of the crew?” 

“Are you crazy?” Jack took a step back, eyeing Geoff in disbelief. “We don’t even know the guy. He’s called the Mad Mercenary for a reason. Look at his reputation.” 

Geoff did nothing but shrug, looking around at the rest of the gang. 

“He did save Gavin.” Usually it was Michael that was vehemently against trusting people. So it was strange to hear no angry rant against the idea coming from him.  
“Gav?” Geoff turned to the britt. “Thoughts?” 

“Even if he’s not the real Vagabond, the dude’s certainly a bit mad. But yeah, why not.” It could be argued that the whole lot of them were mad in their own special ways anyhow. He suddenly remembered the sheer intensity that was held without the merc’s blue eyes. That man was without a doubt the Vagabond….and here they were inviting him to join their crew. Yup…they were definitely a bit mental themselves.  
Sighing, Jack relented. “Fine. But we integrate him slow if he agrees.” 

“Great!” Geoff’s eyes glinted as he turned back to the monitor when he noticed a reply in his inbox. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a date tomorrow boys!”  
\----  
From: BM Vagabond

Tomorrow, 8pm.  
I’ll email you the location at 7.  
\----  
Leaning against the hood of his car, the merc let his eyes wander down the road to fall on the vehicle approaching. He had chosen this location because of its overlook on the city and its one single road to get there. And with only an hours’ notice to arrive, it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to get the drop on him.  
He honestly didn’t think that’s where this meeting was going, but one couldn’t be too careful. He had a good number of bounties on his head from more than one group, and prospective clients had tried to collect on them in the past. Of course, they all ended up dead in the end…

His mask was now back in place, as well a very simple warpaint design underneath it. He’d also stitched the tear in his signature leather jacket, being careful to wipe it clean of blood. Showing weakness wasn’t something he could ever allow. His entire persona depended on it. When the van pulled up and parked about 30 feet in front of him, he made a point of swinging the semi-automatic that hung on his back to rest at his side. 

He watched intently as the Fake AH crew spilled from the van, tipping his head slightly to the side as he watched them. 

“Vagabond.” Geoff took point as he group stepped closer to the mercenary. “I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting you before. I’m Geoff, the leader of this merry band of fuck ups.” Motioning to his side, he continued. “This is Jack, my right hand woman and pilot.” 

“Gavin…I’m sure you already know.” At the mention of his name, the britt raised his hand in an awkward wave. Unlike before, he mercenary seemed to emanate an eerie sort of air. If he hadn’t met him the day previous during the gun fight and police chase, he would have actually wondered if there was even a man under the mask. 

“This here is Michael,” Geoff continued, motioning to the stocky red head with the curly hair, “Weapons expert and our resident demolitions guy.” Michael nodded, arms crossed and expression careful not to give anything away. 

“Finally, this is Ray. The best goddamn sniper in Los Santos.” The diminutive man gave a tiny nod, also careful to keep his expression emotionless. 

Geoff turned back to the merc, well aware that he still hadn’t said a word. “Now…before we get down to business, I gotta ask. Why the hell did you help Gavin yesterday.” 

The Vagabond responded by a shrug and simply the word. “Karma.” 

“But what does that mean?” Gavin was quick to respond. 

The masked man chuckled slightly, “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” His voice was light and cheerful, but there was something about the glint in his eyes that showed that he was being entirely serious. It caused Jack to glance over at Gavin warily and Ray to furrow his brow.

The merc could have easily explained that he had been repaying a favor from the night before. But if he did that then Gavin would be able to directly connect the Vagabond with his real unmasked face. And that wasn’t something he was ever going to let happen. People that were able to connect his face with his identity as the Mad Mercenary died. Simple as that. 

“Huh….ok.” Geoff certainly wasn’t oblivious to the vibes the guy was giving off and for the first time was sure that the merc really was the real Vagabond. “Anyway, I heard everything that happened yesterday from Gavin and well..” he paused, opening his hands welcomingly. “You seem just like our kind of asshole.” 

“Ok.” The merc simply stated, humoring the man in standing before him. 

“Well, what I mean is, I’m offering you a place in our crew. We could use someone like you, a little crazy and tough as dicks.” 

Raising his brows, the Vagabond actually laughed at the offer. Not out of scorn or spite, but because of how much the offer had surprised him. He’d gotten offers like it before, small time gangs wanting to shovel large amounts of cash at him so he’d give them a one up in the crime world. Before he had thought even the idea of it absurd but… there was something about this group that didn’t rub him the wrong way like usual. Their offer seemed honest and they weren’t trying to buy him either.

He then considered how thrilling it was the day previous during the police chase. How the added element of Gavin driving the bike while he fired wildly at a mob of police cars made everything seem considerably more exciting. 

How much longer was he planning to go on how he was? How much longer could he live the solitary life of the Mad Mercenary? It was then that he came to his decision. 

“Ok.” He simply stated, voice still just as light-hearted as before. 

“Wha..” Geoff started, taking aback. “Well...alright then.” He glanced around his crew, seeing the startled and surprised faces on all of them as they looked around at each other. None of them had expected that answer.  
It actually caused Jack to furrow her brow even more. She hadn’t expected to trust the guy even less upon meeting him in person. It shouldn’t have been that easy. She’d have to have words with Geoff in private later. 

But as of the moment…it seemed like their crazy little band of assholes was up to six.  
\-----


	2. Initiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time since the Vagabond had worked with anyone other then himself. So hopefully things will go well when the crew pull him in for his first job....but considering the crew he's with? That's unlikely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a vision in my head of where this was going but....I can't seem to really get there?  
> Again, having a bit of trouble with characterization.  
> Oh well.

“So like, you’re just as crazy as he is.” Jack was the first one to speak as the crew, minus their newest addition, climbed back into their ride. “There’s no way we can trust him.”

“Oh, no, I totally agree.” The gang boss put the van in gear, glancing at his right hand who was already sitting in the passenger seat. The rest of the crew was in the back. Geoff was still kind of speechless about what had just happened.  
He hadn’t expected the Mercenary to so easily agree to his offer. He certainly hadn’t expected him to do so by simply tipping his head to the side and saying ‘ok’ either. 

“He must have some secret plan. Maybe he’s a mole from another group.” Jack chewed her lip as her mind raced. 

“Possibly, yeah.” Geoff didn’t take his eyes off the road this time. “But if he was working for someone else why didn’t he just off us during the bank job?” Jack was about to protest but Geoff cut her off. “Because let’s be honest here, that plan went to shit real fast. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to use the chaos and the cops to his advantage.” 

“Yeah, I get it but think about this…” Jack was about to cross her arms out of habit but quickly stopped when she remembered one of them was in a cast, broken from the helicopter crash. “By saving Gavin, he has an in. Then all he had to do was wait for us to contact him with the card he so conveniently left with Gavin. He could do a great deal of damage from the inside. We don’t know what type of long game he’s playing.” 

“Eeeehhhh, reaching…” Geoff pursed his lips. “I don’t know about a ‘long game’, but I worry he’s playing at something…” And there was only one way to be sure of the mercenaries intentions…  
The gang boss paused for a moment before reaching a hand back and slamming a fist on the door into the back of the truck. He barely had his hand back on the wheel before it slid open and Michael’s head popped though. 

“Hey boy’s, how you feel about pulling a job?” He called into the back. 

“Geoff, please.” It was Michael who responded first, still peering into the front of the cab with a grin on his face. “When do we ‘not’ want to pull a job?”

\-----  
After finishing his final outstanding job as a free lance mercenary, the Vagabond stayed at home for nearly forty eight hours after joining the Fake AH crew before he heard anything more from ‘Geoff’. He had actually begun to wonder how the whole dealio would go. Their meeting and conversation was rather quick and awkward and their parting even more so. He ended up just chalking it up to his intimidating demeanour and the general distrust shared between them. 

The Vagabond’s entire career and persona depended on people not knowing who he was, not knowing his face or name and not being able to read him. But even though he remained a complete mystery to those he encountered, the merc was rather adept at reading other. It was obvious that his new ‘crew’ didn’t trust him. And that he entirely understood. He could already tell from their quick meeting that the woman, ‘Jack’, would probably give him the most flak. 

He figured that the lack of contact was mostly just them trying to figure out how to work him into their plans. It was them trying to figure him out. In retrospect, he probably could have handled the situation better…less…vague. But years of being cryptic and enigmatic couldn’t be broken so easily. 

And like their distrust of him, the merc still wasn’t entirely sure how to handle a crew. He was a lone wolf and had been for the better part of two decades. He had started out his career of crime jumping crews and learning the ropes sure, but he had been barely out of his teens at the time and was still going by his first name. That name…the kid he was…he was gone now. The merc had burned that identity the day he became the Vagabond…No one alive could connect him to that low level criminal. 

Despite how torn he was about the entire situation he couldn’t help that tingle of excitement and exhilaration in the pit of his stomach. Perhaps it was fate that he had ended up here. He wasn’t religious by any means, nor was he superstitious. But it was hard to overlook the coincidences that brought him here. 

A little ding of a message being accepted into his inbox brought him out of his contemplation.  
\----

From: Geoff Ramsey

Vagabond,  
Trust me when I say we’re all thrilled that you accepted our invitation. Like all new members, there’s a bit of a grace period. You know, we get to know you, you get to know us.  
We’re put together a small job as an ‘initiation.’ 

Meet Ray and Michael at the following address…  
\----  
The message went on to list out the time of meeting and exact location. A back lane at 8pm the next day. The merc could only assume it was close to the location of the ‘job’, since nothing about it was actually mentioned in the email.  
Pursing his lips, he only shrugged slightly. If he was going to be working with these people he would have to trust them. And it wasn’t like he’d never walked into a situation blind before. 

His email back to the Fake’s leader was a simple one word answer. 

‘Ok.’  
\----  
Sitting in an unassuming black car, the sniper and weapons expert of the Fake AH crew waited impatiently. It was still ten minutes to eight but both were undeniable nervous. 

“Yo, you think this whole thing is a good idea?” It was Ray that spoke first, breaking the tense silence in the car. 

“What, the job?” He paused before speaking again. “Or do you mean the Vagabond?” 

“Both I guess.” 

The redhead only raised his brows, turning what he hoped to be a confident gaze upon his friend. “The guy saved Gav. If we can trust him or not we’ll learn soon enough. And if it turns out we can’t we blow his brains out, simple.” 

The smaller man only raised a brow. “Whatever you say man.” 

Both of them jumped a foot when someone knocked on the window. Despite the knowledge of exactly who was coming, the masked face elicited a second start from Michael. Rather than cracking his window to speak to the man he opened the door, voice hot with typical irritation. “Jesus man, scared the goddamn shit out of me with that mask.” At the lack of response from the merc, the redhead sighed and spoke again before shutting his door. “Get in.” 

Slipping into the back seat of the car and shutting the door, the Vagabond still wasn’t sure what he expected. Everything seemed kosher so far. No ambush or raised weapons. “What’s the job?” He finally spoke. 

“Wooow, right down to business then.” Michael spoke, voice a mix of cheer and sarcasm as he turned to look at the masked man. “This is supposed to be your initiation; you could try and have a little fun.” 

Taken aback, the Vagabond blinked at the younger man before replying. “I uh…Ok?” He said voice unsure. “I wasn’t really told what was going on short of a time and place.” 

“You know, that’s the most I’ve heard you speak since I met you.” Ray finally spoke up since the merc got into the car, turning to look back at him. “I didn’t know you could say anything but ‘Ok’.” 

“Well it’s easier to keep the mystery alive when people aren’t sure how far my vocabulary extends.” Just by his eyes Ray could tell that the merc was furrowing his brow but his observation was interrupted when the man spoke again. “I’ll be honest with you. Your crew’s offer caught me a little off guard.” 

“So the infamous Vagabond himself was actually surprised by a merry band of idiots like us, huh? That’s kind of a shocker.” Michael grinned jokingly, as if he wasn’t risking a jab at the merc. “I thought you’d be too seasoned for that considering your reputation.”  
Luckily, his jab only resulted in a quiet laugh from behind the mask. Although neither showed it, both Fakes were a little taken aback by it. Ray in particular hadn’t been sure the Vagabond was even capable of humour. Not to mention how light the laugh sounded. Considering the mercs voice Ray expected something way more…gruff. 

“Anyway, down to business.” Michael was feeling considerably better about having the Vagabond in the same car now. “We’re hitting the convenience store around the corner. Something quick and easy. Ray and I have done it countless times with the crew.” 

“How we hitting it?” The merc questioned the redhead. “You have weapons I hope. I didn’t bring my arsenal.” Despite his words all three of them knew that the Vagabond wasn’t entirely unarmed. 

“Ooh…oh, yeah I’ve got your covered on that front.” The weapon’s expert grinned, fire in his eyes. “So…onto the plan.”  
\-----  
The plan in question went perfectly…so about the first five minutes. The Vagabond wasn’t even sure why he was surprised. Considering what he’d witnessed at the bank, he should have just assumed things would go wrong.  
And it wasn’t that his new crew was incompetent….well, not entirely anyway. It was mostly just terrible luck. 

They had waited for Ray to get into position across the street with his rifle…which the mercenary had been surprised to learn was an eye searing pink. Once he flashed them the all clear, the merc wrenched the door open as Michael stormed in, gun literally blazing as he screamed at the clerk to bag the money.

That was when the first problem occurred…which was usually the number one most common problem for criminals. Sirens.  
The Vagabond had first heard them before all of the money was even in the bag. “You might want to hurry up!” he shouted to his new found crew member from where he was still holding the door open. 

When tires squealed as the first cop car rounded the corner, the merc shouted again. “Now!” 

And then there was gunfire. Chaos as the glass windows of the store exploded around him followed by the shouts from both Ray and the police. Making a running dive towards the only measly cover on the street, the mercenary blind fired towards the cop. Knowing full well that the bus bench wouldn’t hold up to an onslaught of bullets, he knew he had to think fast. 

Seeing movement from the corner of his eye, the merc quickly realized that it was only Michael managing to slip around the store and into the cover of the alleyway. “Go! I’ve got this!” He reloaded the weapon with practiced hands even as he shouted to Michael. 

“Ray!” He could hear the redheads response, and he followed the pointed finger to the other side of the street. Sure enough, the third member of their party was holed up behind a parked car, trying to return fire as best as he could with only a rifle. 

“I’ve got him, go!” The longer they lingered, the more police would turn up. There was so time for finesse. And anyway, what was the point of wearing heavy body armour if you didn’t expect to take a few bullets. Along that trail of thought, the Vagabond launched himself into the street, gun blazing widely towards the blockade of cop cars. Slamming the butt of the automatic he was carrying into the driver’s window of the car Ray was camped behind, the mercenary quickly whipped the door open. 

“Get in!” He yelled to Ray who was happy to oblige. By the time the younger man was sliding into the passenger seat, the Vagabond was already in the process of hotwiring the car. 

Picking up the gun the merc had propped next to him, Ray returned fire on the police. “Could you take any longer?” He yelled almost into the merc’s ear as the weapon clicked empty. Having no clips for the particular gun he was forced to take up his rifle once again. 

The Vagabond was about to snap his own angry quip at the sniper when the car revved to life. So instead, he reaction was to slam his foot down on the gas. Unprepared for the jolt as the vehicle rocketed off, Ray was nearly thrown into the back seat, rifle and all. 

“Oh, I’m sorry what were you saying? I didn’t catch it.” The mercenary didn’t even turn to his companion, instead keeping his eyes firmly on the road. Already, he could hear the sirens in pursuit. “You should probably put your seatbelt on.”

“You gotta be fuckin with m-“ The young man was thrown hard again the window as the Vagabond took a corner so sharply the sniper was sure they would collide with a building. Miraculously, they somehow stayed on the road. “Fuck! Who taught you to drive!?” 

The Vagabond only responded with a laugh. And unlike his soft chuckle before, this laugh was almost deranged. It unnerved Ray in the same way he had been the first night they’d met the man. Whoever he and Michael had been talking to before the job hadn’t been the Vagabond, but rather the man behind that mask. But ‘this’….this was the Mad Mercenary. Almost to prove the snipers thoughts right, the merc swerved onto the median before swinging into oncoming traffic and into an adjacent street. 

The only response he gave to Ray’s nervous stare was to simply say. “Hold on.”  
\----  
Only when they hit the highway and left the wailing sound of sirens in the distance did the tension in the car ease. 

“We have to find somewhere we can lay low at until the police lose interest in finding us.” 

“Yeah, that probably won’t happen for a while.” Ray replied, pulling out his cell from his pocket and inspecting it. He had one bar of service and he suspected it would drop to zero if they drove any further. 

Flipping it open and to his contacts, he was soon on the line was Geoff. 

“Ray!? Man, we’ve been trying to get a hold of you, you asshole. Michael told us what happened; you scared the piss out of me.” Geoff blurted out the panicked words before Ray could get in any of his own. “Where the fuck are you?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m with the Vagabond. We’re outsid-….th-… -ty..-“ There was suddenly a quiet booping sound as the call dropped eliciting another curse from the young man. Sure enough, at inspection, his final bar of service was gone. 

It seemed it was only him…and the Vagabond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the terrible grammar and spelling. I can't be bothered to edit properly and in depth. This is for fun after all.


	3. Chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the first time in a very long time the Vagabond has spent any time with anyone aside from work. But there's something about Ray that tells him that maybe his decision to join the crew wasn't the wrong one.

“So I guess we just sit here?” Any tension or nerves Ray had about sitting in a car alone with the Vagabond left ten minutes ago and was replaced by boredom.   
The mercenary had pulled up behind a decrepit old building just off the highway about fifteen minutes ago. It was sheltered enough that one wouldn’t be able to see the car from the road unless they were really searching for it. It was also where the merc was planning on waiting out the police for the night. 

“Well, unless you want to risk another police chase then yeah, we should probably just sit here.” 

Ray sighed loudly, reclining his seat even further back. “Man, I don’t even have my DS with me…” Normally he carried it in his pocket where ever he went, but he hadn’t thought the job would take more than a few hours.   
When his words weren’t graced with a reply, the sniper dared a look over at the mercenary. Trying to study him but in a way where it wasn’t obvious that’s what he was doing. 

The Vagabond was also mostly reclined in his seat, his arms crossed and eyes turned up to stare blankly at the ceiling. His shoulders were broad, the blue shouldered leather jacket fitting comfortably. There was a tear in the leather of the arm, recently stitched, and it seemed generally well worn. That was also when he noticed the other damage. 

“Whoa, dude.” Ray sat up abruptly, setting aside the rifle that he had been cradling in his lap.

“What?” The Vagabonds voice contained a slight irritation as he turned his gaze to the younger man. 

“Well…there are bullet holes in your jacket?” Nerves suddenly returning to the sniper, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. The mercenary had seemed content sitting there and didn’t really appear to be hurt. 

Twisting his body to investigate the snipers claim, he hummed slightly in acceptance. “It seems that there are. And I was wondering where the pain was coming from…” Despite the subject matter his voice was rather light. And even in the short time Ray had known him that light hearted tone seemed like a theme. He wondered if it was actually honest emotion or simply another mask. 

“Shouldn’t we…do something?” The sniper questioned, unsure as to how to proceed. 

“Hmm. If anything breeched my body armour I’d know. Nothing I can do to help except but ice on the bruises.” The merc turned to look at the smaller man in the passenger seat before simply shrugging. “I’ll deal with it later.” 

“Is something like this normal for you?” Ray questioned both curious about the mysterious Vagabond and wanting to fill the silence. “Y’know being shot…going on the run.” 

The mercenary chuckled again, the sound light and genuine, so unlike that of the Mad Merc. “No, not so much. I think I’ve taken more bullets in the past week with your crew then I have in five years.” 

“So like, I know you don’t wanna say why you saved Gav…. but why did you join the crew? Like you said, you were doing so much better without us. Why change that now?” The sniper knew that the entire point of the job was to test the merc. But even if he didn’t have that agenda he was genuinely curious.

There was a silence as the Vagabond turned his intense blue eyes on the young man. This was his chance to clear some of the awkward air with him and his crew….’his crew’…he would still have to get used to that. If he wanted them to trust him, he would have to trust them….at least with little steps at a time. “I um..” He stammered, unsure of how to start. “I’ve been doing this a long time, nearly two decades. It started with the money of course…but then it also became about the thrill. I haven’t felt that thrill working solo in a long time.” 

“So what, you’re saying that you joined for the kicks?” Considering the Vagabond’s rep, that wasn’t something that would surprise Ray.

“Ahhh, well, not entirely. Yes, saving Gavin the other day and then you was a rush. But…” He trailed off, pursing his lips under his mask and out of view of the young man. This was something that would be harder to explain. 

“But…” Ray prompted, curious but not really wanting to push the merc too far. 

“Well, like I said, your boss’s offer kind of struck me speechless. It made me think about where I was going…and how much longer that would be for. I’m not getting any younger…and so far I have really nothing to show for my life except a body count.” 

“So you had like, a midlife crisis.” The sniper summed it up with a laugh. “How old ‘are’ you?” 

The jab elicited a sarcastic gasp from behind the mask. “I’m well-seasoned, I’ll have you know. And it wasn’t a midlife crisis. It was more of a…well…a life decision.” His voice was layered with humour as he took mock offense at the younger man’s words. “And what would you know, a young whippersnapper like you?” 

His choice of words elicited a laugh from the sniper. “Yeah, ok there, ‘Dad’.” 

They both chuckled for a moment before falling to silence again.   
\------

Eventually, the young sniper fell asleep reclining in the passenger seat, leaving the Vagabond to keep watch.   
Even though the job went to complete and utter shit and left him on the run from an army of cops with a young man he’d barely even met…..things could have been worse. Even from their brief conversations, the mercenary was quick to realize he liked Ray. The kid was full of life and equally so of sarcasm. And once the sniper got over his nerves, the banter between them had been almost…fun.

That was an odd feeling for the merc. He hadn’t had an honest to god, good time with anyone in years. It was fucked up, but this was probably the closest thing to spending time with a friend. 

Even with his aching body and possibly fractured rips from the bullets he’d taken…even with the exhaustion that made him desperate to shut his eyes…he thought he could get used to this. This crew. Ray, Gavin…Michael who despite their short lived meeting seemed ok enough. If they could trust him enough to let him in….they would make a pretty good team. 

And despite the knowledge that he would have to also trust them…he still didn’t allow himself to fall asleep. 

\----  
When morning came, Ray awoke with a groan, taking a moment to remember exactly where he was and what had happened. A quick glance over to the drivers seat confirmed that the mercenary hadn’t ditched him and or murdered him in his sleep. That was a good sign at least considering he hadn’t meant to fall asleep in the first place. 

The Vagabond once again had his arms crossed, his chin resting on his chest. Ray couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not. It occurred to him that if he really wanted to…he could pull the mask off while the merc was unsuspecting. That thought was quickly banished when he remembered that he didn’t have a death wish. 

Instead, the sniper cautiously reached over and poked the leather clad arm. “Hey.” 

Immediately the masked face turned to look at him, causing Ray to nearly jump out of his skin. He hadn’t expected quite a sudden reaction. 

“I wasn’t asleep.” The Vagabond’s voice sounded tired.

“Did you sleep at all?” Ray questioned, knowing the answer full well when he glanced how bloodshot the man’s blue eyes had become. 

“Nope. Too much to think about.” The merc brushed off the question, pushing the door open and climbing out. 

Doing the same, Ray stretched his stiff limbs, squinting into the rising sun. “Thinking about what?” 

“My midlife crisis.” 

“So he admits it.” Ray let out a barking laugh.

There was a moment of silence before the mercenary turned to the sniper once more. “There’s a gas station across the street. It was one of the reasons why I stopped here. Do you think you could run over and grab a few things?” 

Raising his brows, the young man crossed his arms. “Why do I have to.” 

“Well I can’t exactly go over there like this.” The merc gestured first to his mask and then to his entire self. 

“What’s with the mask anyway?” Ray finally got the nerve up to ask. The question was burning on everyone’s mind since they’d actually met the infamous merc. It was only now though, that he was feeling comfortable enough around the man to ask it. “Why don’t you just take it off?”

The Vagabond shrugged. “We’re doing crime; it makes sense to wear a mask. Maybe you should too.” 

“Come on dude, I’m serious.” The sniper protested still not uncrossing his arms. 

“Ok..” The merc said slowly, thinking his answer through. “You know I’ve been in the game for almost two decades right?” 

“Yeah.”

“What’s my name?” The Vagabond’s voice was still light, but in a more serious manner. “What does my face look like?” When the young man didn’t even grace the obvious questions with an answer, the merc continued. “Wearing a mask when you’re on the job is one thing; yeah security cams don’t see you. Sure, passer-by’s can’t id you. But when people know your face, your name…people who you might come to trust…there can be leaks. That’s how people get caught. And that’s why I haven’t.” 

“Wait…so you’re saying…that in twenty years, no one has ever seen your face?” The absolute dedication that that took certainly didn’t go over the young man’s head. 

“Nope.” The Vagabond shrugged. “And even if I do take it off, I wear war paint underneath it. To make it harder to identify me.” 

“You’re kidding.” Ray’s face was a mix of shock, awe and horror. This guy really wasn’t messing around when it came to his secret identity. 

“Nope. And that’s why I ain’t gonna be the one who goes over there.” 

Letting out a deep sigh, the sniper finally let his arms fall to his sides in defeat. “Fine, you win. You got cash on you?” 

Silently, the Vagabond withdrew a twenty from his unassuming black wallet and handed it to the young man. “Whatever you want… but grab me a diet coke.” 

“Sure man, whatever you say.”   
\-----  
It was only after the sniper had departed did the merc roll his shoulders in discomfort. He was not only stiff from sitting in the car for that long but also from the impact wounds from the bullets.   
Grimacing, he unzipped his jacket, inspecting it after he pulled it off. There were three tears in the back and one in the side. At this rate he’d have to get a new jacket. There was only so much damage one could repair. 

Setting it down on the hood of the car, the merc then unbuckled the heavy body armour and slipped it off. Sure enough, all four bullets were still embedded in the heavy material. Trying to decide if he should put it back on or not, he instead set it down on top of his jacket. 

Taking a deep breath the Vagabond lifted his black T-shirt and turned, trying to get a view of his back in the reflection in the glass. In the end he couldn’t see much at all. But he didn’t really have to, knowing full well the colors his skin would already be turning. 

By the time Ray returned with a shopping bag in hand, the merc’s signature jacket was already back in place, minus the body armour that was still resting atop the hood of the car. 

Reaching into the bag and pulling out a bottle of diet coke the sniper offered it to his companion. “You know the aspartame in that isn’t good for you.” 

Accepting the cool bottle, the merc chuckled. “Yeah, well, neither is getting shot.”  
Withdrawing a bottle of coke for himself, Ray’s eyes wandered to the body armour atop the hood. Setting the bag (Which contained snacks for the drive home) beside it, he inspected the damage. The bullets didn’t look that high a calibre, but the fact that the vest had stopped all four still surprised the young man. Lifting it, he realized exactly how heavy duty it was. The thing weighed a ton. 

“Shit man, you were wearing this that whole time?” 

“Yeah, and it saved my life. You should be wearing one too.” 

Ray set it down again, cracking his soda open as he shrugged. “I don’t usually see any close quarters combat. All it does for me is weigh me down and slow my get a way. It’s usually Michael, Jack and Geoff who wear it since they’re usually the ones in the line of fire.” 

“..And Gavin?” The merc inquired, cracking the seal of the diet coke open but not making a move to drink it yet. 

“Naw, Gav probably wouldn’t even be able to lift it, the guy’s a twig. He normally doesn’t see action anyway. That day at the bank was a special occasion.” 

“If by special occasion you mean a disaster, then I agree with you.” The merc chuckled softly before turning away from the sniper. Lifting his mask just enough to raise the bottle to his lips, he chugged half of it in one go before returning his mask to its place. 

Very aware of the secrecy that was going on, Ray watched curiously. Sure enough, he had indeed caught a glimpse of war paint under the mask, but it was gone almost as fast as it was there. 

“Well.” The sniper decided not to say any more about the Vagabonds decision to stay anonymous. “You think we’ve waiting long enough?” 

The merc didn’t even pause before reaching for the driver’s door and swinging it open. “Hopefully… Let’s get out of here, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how long I'm going to write for. This isn't really a proper fic, more of just plot vomit. I might time line jump a bit later....if I end up writing more that is.   
> Again. No real editing was done.


	4. Chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everyone is happy about the new addition to crew. Why did recruiting a new member seem to tear them apart?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully everythings good and makes sense. Not gonna lie, I'm not even gonna pre read it.

Remaining inconspicuous while driving back into the city was difficult considering the state of their stolen car. Therefore, much to Ray’s relief, the merc was seeming to do everything in his power to obey the traffic laws. Fortunately, the hunt for them seemed to have ended, and with the city in the state it was with the street gangs, a shot up car wasn’t un unusual sight. 

Reclining in his seat and cradling his eye searing rifle, the sniper suddenly felt his pocket buzz…and buzz…and buzz. Withdrawing it, the young man cringed at the sight on his home screen. There were upwards of 10 missed calls, not to mention all of the texts which included various curses and levels of anger and worry. It was obvious as he scrolled down the screen how panicked his boss had gotten after contact had been lost. 

“Geoff is going to be pissed.” He emphasized the word, which caused the mercenary to shoot him a curious glance. 

“I assume you have service now?” 

“Oh yeah.” The sniper ran a hand over his face, all the while scrolling through all the missed texts. 

“Well? Are you going to phone him?” 

“Eeeeeehhhhh….No, I’d rather not get an earful over the phone.” 

“Well…I mean…there was nothing else we could have done.” The Vagabond wondered if Geoff would go out of his way to contact him about going missing. He assumed not. 

“Yeeaaahh…But Geoff worries.” The sniper paused, noticing that they were entering the city….finally. “We should probably go straight back to Geoff’s flat. That’s kind of where ‘home base’ is. At least for now.” 

“After that botched job, you sure you want to risk showing me where the crew holes up?”

Ray hummed at the answer, thinking over the words. He was right, there was no denying that. Even he wasn’t allowed in the flat until a month after he’d joined the crew. And he wasn’t an infamous mercenary they knew nothing about. “Ehh, fuck it.” He said finally, directing the Vagabond through the streets towards home.  
\-----  
Pulling up in front of the building, the Vagabond peered through the broken glass of the windshield to get a proper view of the towering building. “Impressive.”

“Hell yeah.” The sniper responded as he collected his weapon and clicked the door open. It was then that he realized the merc wasn’t making any move to leave. “Yo, you coming?”

A hum emanated from behind the mask for a moment before the merc spoke. “No, I don’t think so.”

“What? Why not?” Ray furrowed his brow, suddenly worried that something was up. Had he missed something important?

“I don’t feel like the reception will be quite welcoming.” He explained with a shrug. “I’ll wait until an official invitation. I took a risk by joining; I’d rather not jeopardize anything so soon.” At Ray’s like of response, he spoke again, his voice holding humour. “Not to mention, if I hang around to long, you’ll get sick of my antics.” 

Recognizing the honesty in the voice, Ray relaxed. “So what, you’re throwing me under the bus then?” He sighed dramatically, “Not cool man.” With that, he finally threw the door open and stepped out, giving a mock salute to the Vagabond and darting across the street to the building.

The merc only lingered a moment longer to take note of the location and address before pulling away.  
\-----

Ditching the stolen vehicle a few blocks away from his house, it was a relieve to walk through his front door.

Pulling his mask off first and then his jacket, the merc left them on his small kitchen table before making a bee line for the bathroom. All he wanted to do was pass out but he couldn’t ruin his sheets with face paint in good conscious. 

Glancing at his reflection in the mirror, he did a double take, turning back to study himself with a grimace. His normally immaculate war paint was smeared pretty badly, giving him…actually a pretty frightening appearance. 

Turning away, he pulled the ponytail from his hair, shed the rest of his clothes, and clambered into the shower. The cool water felt like a blessing on his damaged back. Pulling the makeup remover right into the shower with him, he made quick word of the war paint as well. It was only when the very last of the red, black and white ran down the drain did he shut the water off. 

Using the towel he’d picked up to wipe the mirror of condensation, the merc finally studied his back, letting a hiss out through his teeth at what he saw. It was no wonder why he felt so sore. His entire back was a mottling for black, yellow and purple, the bruising snaking around under his arm and almost to his chest.   
Prodding where the bullet had impacted with his side, he also came to a quick conclusion that one of his ribs was probably broken. Sighing and deciding to deal with it after he’d slept, he continued to dry off. 

As the condensation on the mirror faded away and he considered himself adequately dry, the Vagabond took a quick moment to study himself in the mirror once again. He looked exhausted, eyes bloodshot and face drawn. Having not shaved in two days, the scruff on his face certainly didn’t help either. It always made him look a little odd. As if the blonde of his eyebrows wasn’t enough, the scruff that covered his jaw made it all the more obvious that his raven coloured hair wasn’t real. Well….that and the considerable roots he had going on. His dyes never lasted very long. He’d have to get a new one eventually. 

Turning away, the merc made straight for his bed, not even bothering to return his hair to a pony tail or locate pajama’s. 

\-----  
Taking a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was about to face, Ray reached for the doorknob of Geoff’s flat. But before he was even able to grasp it, the door slammed open and he suddenly found himself being crushed to death in a bear hug. 

“Jac-“ He wheezed, barely even able to finish the name. He wondered briefly how she was still so strong using only one arm, considering he could feel the other one still slinged and against his chest. 

“You asshole! Why didn’t you phone! What the hell!?” The redhead released him finally, a stormy look on her face. But the sniper knew her well enough to see the worry and relief that resided there as well. 

“What can I say I like surprises.” The sniper wasn’t even another foot in the door before Geoff rounded the corner into view.

“YOU!” The string of curses thrown was much more colourful then Jack’s as the gang boss lumbered down the hall. “We thought you were dead! You asshole!!” He finally said, voice breaking just the slightest as he wrapped a much more gentler arm around Ray’s shoulders then Jack did. “We thought that psycho killed you or something.” 

“Is that Ray?” A distant voice, followed by a second sounded across the flat followed by the thunder of running feet. 

“Ray!” Michael nearly bodychecked Gavin as he rounded the corner, making a beeline for his friend. “What the fuck man? No phonecall? No text? Last thing I saw was you in a car tearing away with the Vagabond driving and an army of cops behind you!”

“Ok, ok, ok!” Ray slung the rifle over his shoulder before raising his hands defensively. “I didn’t have service on my goddamn phone! We were laying low outside of city limits.” 

“All night?” Jack questioned, expression still the same as before. “Alone? With the Vagabond?” 

“Yeah.” Ray pushed his way through the crowd of people into the flat. “It wasn’t actually that bad. Well, I mean, apart from being shot at by 400 police.” 

“Well, what the fuck happened?” Michael’s voice was quieter now, his tone curious. 

“Yeah, tell us Ray.” It was Gavin who responded next, in his typical fashion. Geoff only crossed his arms expectantly, pursing his lips. 

“The guy’s actually…pretty normal. Well, other than the fact he’s ridiculously paranoid and a shit driver.”

“Did you guys talk? Did he tell you anything?” Again, Jack spoke. It was no secret that she still didn’t trust the mercenary in the least.

“Yeah, I asked him why he joined the crew?” 

“Really? What did he say?” It was Geoff this time, his voice fast and hopeful. 

“Well…as far as we were able to determine. He’s have a midlife crisis.” 

The words were barely even out of Ray’s mouth before both Michael and Geoff burst into fits of laughter. 

“You’ve got to be bloody kidding me, that’s why?” Gavin questioned, brow raised. 

“Said he’s not getting and younger and he doesn’t have anything to show for his life as of now.” The sniper shrugged.

“And you believe him?” Jack, ever serious, cut in. 

Ray stopped for a moment to ponder the question. After all of the time trapped together in the car, the Vagabond hadn’t given him any reason to doubt him. He risked his life to save him on the street….and just by the tone of his voice he seemed to have been completely honest. That or he was a ridiculously good liar. And mask or not, Ray was pretty good at picking up on that kind of thing. 

“Yeah.” He finally said, nodding slightly. “Yeah, I believe him.” 

“Even though the job went to shit, as per usual,” Michael chimed in again. “regardless if the guy was telling the truth or not…Ray spent a night out alone with him and came back alive.” He raised his hands. “That’s got to count for something.” 

Quiet and in thought, Geoff pursed his lips, letting his eyes slide from Michael to Ray. As blue as they were, Ray noted that they didn’t quite match the intensity of the merc’s. 

“I think we should bring him in.” Geoff finally stated. Prompting a loud, ‘What!?’ from Jack. 

“You can’t be serious.” The redhead crossed her good arm over her bad one, trying to make a point. But even though she couldn’t with her arms, her body language and tone conveyed it just fine. “Because of one successful mission? Come on…” She paused for a moment and just as Geoff was about to speak again, she continued. “We haven’t let ANYONE in close within the first month of them joining. Not Gavin, not Michael, not Ray. What is with you and this guy?” 

Not really having an answer and knowing that she was right, Geoff crossed his arms defensively, tone raised. “What do YOU have against him?”

“He’s the god damned Vagabond! With a kill count higher than all of us combined!” She huffed, throwing her good arm into the air. “And if that’s not enough, we’ve never seen his face! We don’t even know his name!! He could be anyone!” 

Ray almost spoke up about the conversation he’d had with the merc about just that but decided against it. When Jack was this heated, it was probably best he let her direct her anger at Geoff rather than risk it be turned on him. 

“Look! I’m in charge! It’s my decision!” Geoff shouted, before immediately snapping his mouth shut. All three lads cringed at the words. Jack and Geoff ran the crew pretty much as a team. Even though, yes, ultimately Geoff had control, Jack was a huge part of planning. Her say usually mattered seeing how she was Geoff’s partner in crime after all. 

There was a dead silence that spanned a few moments as Jack narrowed her eyes dangerously at her friend. 

Geoff was the one to speak first. “Look, Jack, I didn’t mean it, we can wait i-“ 

“No.” Jack spoke, dangerously calm, before literally pushing past Geoff as she retrieved her jacket from the back of a chair. “You’re the boss. Bring him in.” Her tone was ice cold, and she refused to even look at the man. On her way to the door, she patted Ray on the shoulder, speaking lowly and in monotone. “I’m glad you’re safe Ray.” Before exiting the flat, letting the door close quietly behind her.

“Eeeuugh, that was bad.” Geoff huffed quietly. 

“Yeah, you fucked up man.” Michael was quick to interject. 

“Yeah, I know that.” 

“What are you going to do?” Gavin spoke next from across the room. He’d withdrawn there to avoid any angry fit from either Geoff or Jack. 

The gang boss shook his head for a moment before turning towards the door. “I’m gonna go after her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some hardcore plans for where I'm going with this. I've even drawn a bit of a comic for it. i just need to GET there.


	5. Chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An expected turn of events cut's Geoff's apology to Jack short and instead leaves them all stricken with worry and anger. Strangly enough, the one who seems to hold the majority of the anger is the Vagabond himself. One could say he's...real mad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again...I haven't even read this through so excuse the errors.

By the time the elevator reached the ground level, Geoff worried that Jack was already long gone from the building. Fortunately after blasting out the glass doors of the lobby and onto the street, he could still see her orange hair bobbing down the side walk. 

“Jack!” He started after her at a slow jog. “Wait!”

So focused on his second hand, he didn’t see the van hauling ass down the street until it was right next to him. It was actually the screech of tires that caused him to turn his focus onto the road. Thinking initially that it was some sort of car accident about to happen, he was proven wrong when the first thing to fill his vision was the glint off a barrel of a gun. 

Reacting almost immediately, the gang boss halted his jog, attempting to turn away. It was that very action that probably saved his life. Because when the shot came, it only impacted with his shoulder, just under his clavicle rather than his chest. 

It was a mixture of the impact and the searing pain that brought him crashing hard to the ground with a loud yelp. 

Suddenly hyper aware of his pulse and the agony searing through is shoulder, the world around him seemed to fade away slightly. There were a few popping shots seemingly in the distance, but he didn’t concern himself with the sound. Instead, he clutched tattooed hands to where his blood was leaking out onto the pavement. 

“Geoff!” Jack’s voice seemed distant, but the gang boss managed to latch onto it enough to bring him back to reality. 

“Jack…” he grit out, groaning in pain. He could hear his second swearing quietly as she gripped his shoulder. 

“Just…Just hold on Geoff…” Her voice seemed to be getting quieter as his vision swam. It felt like he was drunk. Not fun drunk, but rather pass out drunk. After a few more moments his consciousness slipped away as he blacked out.   
\-----

All anger having slipped away when the first gunshot sounded, only fear and worry filled Jack now as she clutched her friends shoulder. 

She was already cursing herself for it. Maybe if she hadn’t stormed out like that it wouldn’t have happened….Maybe if she had just turned when she first heard him call she would have seen the incoming gunman….Or maybe she were faster on the draw with gun….  
Indeed she had drawn the pistol she had tucked in the small of her back and returned fire on the van…but it hadn’t seemed to do any good. 

The only upside to the entire situation was that she’d identified the gunman before they made their quick escape. But vengeance was currently the furthest thing from her mind. Right now, it was entirely consumed by her worry for Geoff. 

“Hey, hey, come on stay with me buddy…” Her tone was panicked as she lifted her good hand from his shoulder to cup his face. Already his eyes had slid shut and he seemed to be unresponsive. 

Sitting back and withdrawing her phone in shaking hands, it took her more time that she would have liked to dial their resident medic. The urgent call only lasted a few minutes as the young man promised he would be there as soon as possible.   
After that, she quick dialled Michael. 

“Yo, Jack, what’s happening?” 

“Mi-Michael… You have to come down to the street right now…I-I need help.” 

At the sound of Jack’s wavering voice, all humour and lightness of the weapons expert’s tone left. “I’ll be there right away.”   
\-----  
After having carried their boss back up to the flat, Jack took up post next to him, pressing a cloth into the wound and praying that it would stop bleeding.   
All the while, the lads hovered around with different levels of worry and anxiety. 

“Did you see who did it?” It was Ray who spoke, his voice flat and solemn. 

Jack’s curls bobbed as she nodded her head. “-Vincent.” She cleared her throat of the fear that was there before she spoke again. “The Saints.” 

“Those fuckers!?” Michael began pacing the room, slamming a fist into his other palm. 

The Saints had been giving them problems for a few years now on and off. They were on about the same tier of crime as the fakes and often fought for turf. They first interacted three years previous, but hadn’t really had any serious trouble recently up until the last six months. 

“What do we do?” Gavin was having trouble standing still as well, antsy to move….to do ‘something’. 

“We wait for Treyco to get here and help Geoff.” Jack had managed to get her voice under control, knowing that she was the one in charge of the lads now that Geoff was down for the count. “One problem at a time.” Her voice kind of fell flat at her last words.

“That’s not very convincing…” Ray moped from where he’d sat down defeated on the other couch. 

“Even if we wanted to act, we can’t, not now. There are only four of us.” Jack chanced taking her eyes off the still unconscious Geoff to shoot Ray a look. 

“Five.” 

All pairs of eyes turned to Gavin who only shrugged and repeated himself. “There are five. Technically….” 

Before Jack was able to speak, Ray chimed in. “No, he’s right. If there’s anyone we could use in out crew now, it would be him.” 

Swallowing and feeling both exhausted and defeated Jack let out a long shaking sigh. “Fine. Call him in.”   
\-----  
Despite passing out in a moment of exhausted, the Vagabond awoke again before the sun was even beginning it’s decent into the sky. 

Still feeling rather tired and considering rolling over again, the merc first decided to check watch. He was able to read the face easily in the still light of day. It was barely even six. Readjusting, he quickly realized there was no ‘comfortable’ position with his back in the state it was. So instead of returning to sleep, the man instead dragged himself sluggishly out of bed.  
Using the washroom first, he then dressed, retrieved a diet coke and started his….’morning’, like he usually started every morning; by checking his email. But at the sight of his inbox, something immediately seemed very wrong. 

\----  
From: Gavin Free

This is urgent! We need your help, asap!  
Contact us as soon as you get this!  
\----

From: Gavin Free

Please answer! Geoff’s been shot!  
We need you right now!!   
\----  
From: Gavin Free

Answer!   
\----  
There were about four more emails along the same line filling his inbox. He didn’t even bother opening them all and instead hit reply.   
\----  
From: BM Vagabond

I’m otw.  
Be at the building in 15.   
Watch for me.  
\----  
Moving first to the washroom where he kept his paints, he applied what was probably the sloppiest war paint he’d ever done, leaving out the white entirely. He was in a rush, but luckily what he achieved was something that was both haunting and terrifying…  
Going for speed rather than precision, the merc then pulled his hair back in a messy bun, shoving it up into the mask after he pulled it over his head. It was pretty good about keeping everything in check, even if his hair was being unruly. 

He then pulled on his last undamaged set of body armour, buckling it with experienced hands as he checked his watch again. He had no doubt in his mind that he’d be able to make it to the Fake’s base in the time he’d promised Gavin through the email. 

Tucking a heavy duty pistol into the small of his back, he then pulled on his jacket (still riddled with bullet holes) and flew out the door.   
\----

“He answered!” Gavin nearly shouted when the little ding of an incoming message appeared in his inbox. 

“What did he say?” Michael was quick to converge on the computer, reading the email over his friends shoulder. “Ok, I’m not angry, by how the fuck does he know where the building is!?” 

“Yeah I got him to drop me off…” Ray admitted with a shrug from his position on the couch. “I invited him in but he thought he’d get me in trouble.”

“Urgghh..” Was Jack’s only response. In another other situation she probably would have let Ray have it. But sitting beside her long-time friends still form with his blood still on her hands….she was just too exhausted to care anymore. 

Treyco had arrived in less then ten minutes of Jack’s call, getting to work on Geoff’s wound immediately. He’d said it wasn’t the worst he’d ever seen but it certainly wasn’t the best. Through it all, the gang boss had only woken twice. The first, he was barely aware, mumbling something no one could understand before passing out. The second…well that was considerable worse. It was right after Treyco had sat back from his procedure when Geoff’s blood shot blue eyes slid open. 

“-ack.” His voice was barely a whisper, and only those closest to him were able to pick it up. Fortunately those close enough were only Treyco and Jack. 

“I’m here, you’re going to be ok.” The redhead and gripped Geoff’s hand in her’s, feeling his squeeze back slightly. 

“-ey, Jack.” The redhead’s eyes made contact with Geoff’s and for a moment the man seemed completely and utterly aware. “Are you still mad? Please…don’t be mad….” He had barely finished his words before his eyes slipped shut once again. 

Swallowing, Jack wasn’t able to speak for a moment in fear that she’d cry in front of their medic. Finally she shook her head, gripping her friends limp hand even tighter. “I’m not mad, Geoff…I’m not…”

A sudden commotion brought Jack out of her thoughts as Michael and Gavin made a mad dash for the door. They had been watching the buildings hacked lobby camera’s and obviously the newest member of the crew had stepped in. Sure enough, even from where Jack was sitting across the room, she could make out the merc’s imposing figure wandering awkwardly through the lobby on the monitor. 

It only took a moment for Gav and Michael to retrieve him up to the flat. 

After stepping in, the merc seemed almost out of place in the rich apartment. But despite his new suroundings, he didn’t seem entirely interested in it. He gave it a glance around as he stepped in, but quickly made a bee line for Jack. 

Stopping a good five feet from the couch to give Jack rather than Geoff space, his intense blue eyes swept over the prone man. “How uh…how is he?”  
All of that intense charisma seemed to disappear as he tried to conduct an honest human interaction. Rather than confidant…his voice actually came out quite the opposite of that. 

Eyes fixed on the intruder to their space, Jack tried to keep a neutral face. But given the current circumstance, she wasn’t trying very hard. “He lost a lot of blood and the trauma of the wound isn’t helping…” The woman paused, sighing. “But he’ll live.” 

Nodding, and very aware of the silence in the room as the lads watched him, he dropped down to one knee. Now looking Jack face to face since she was sitting on the floor beside the couch, he spoke again. “Do you know who did it?” 

Still unsure if she trusted the merc with much of anything, Jack hesitated. But after a moment and a few shared glances with the lads, she gave in. “Another crew called The Saints.” 

Nodding, the Vagabond rose back to his feet, now to address anyone who was interested in what he had to say. “I’ve heard of them. Do you have some sort of beef with them?”

“Naw, their just assholes.” Ray was the first to respond, followed by Michael who was standing by the couch with crossed arms. 

“We fight over turf sometimes. More recently than ever,” He shrugged, shaking his head. “Well..we might also have stolen some jobs from them too.” Gavin nodded in agreeance to his friends words. 

The Vagabond hummed for a moment, his eyes wandering nowhere in particular as he thought. The fact that someone had specifically targeted the fake’s had suddenly struck a cord of indiscriminate rage within him. This was ‘his’ crew. This was finally his shot at changing his life. Joining the Fake’s was the biggest decision he’d made in a decade and some no bodies were trying to fuck it up. 

Eye twitching slightly, he cooled his temper before speaking again. “I’ll see what I can do…make a few calls…” He trailed off, shooting a quick glance at Jack before retreating back to the front door and the silence of the hall. Oooohh….he was going to make a few calls all right. And once he got a hold of the ‘Saint’s’, there would be no saving them from the wrath of the Vagabond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so things start getting interesting.


	6. chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Vagabond comes face to face with six Saints. What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't even read this through since finishing it. I'm tired and couldn't be bothered whoops. So sorry for any errors.

As Jack watched the merc head for the door, what he’d said repeated in her mind. There was something he wasn’t telling them, she could sense it in the tone of his voice and the glance he’d given her. 

Squeezing Geoff’s hand once more, she stood and made a beeline towards the door, pressing her ear against it. Ignoring the look’s the lads were giving her, she focused on the conversation she could hear their new member having outside. 

Waiting a moment longer, she heard the ding of the elevator and her eavesdropping was cut short. “Son of a bitch.” She muttered to herself, anger once again rearing it’s head within her. Grabbing her jacket once more she thrust a commanding finger towards Ray. “Watch him and make sure he’s ok. I’ll be back.”  
With that she threw open the door and followed the mercenary down. She was pleased to see his form disappear around the corner just as the elevator doors open. If she could tail him maybe she’d figure out what he was really up too. 

The conversation he’d heard him have outside the doors seemed an awful lot like he was trying to arrange a meeting with the Saints. And with that knowledge her mind came to some of it’s own conclusions.  
What if the Saints had hired the Vagabond to get close to them? Maybe all of this was really actually some elaborate ruse to take them down from the inside. 

She supposed she’d soon find out.  
\-----  
With the amount of contacts he’d accumulated over his years of solo work, it didn’t take the mercenary long to arrange a meeting with the saints. He had about an hour to kill beforehand which also allowed his anger to go from a low simmer to a proper boil. The lackey over the phone had seemed excited over the prospect of meeting with the infamous Vagabond. But the cheer and glee in his voice had only added fuel to the fire.

Paying attention to the road only enough to drive properly, the merc began to run through his head what he would do first…how he’d go about making the Saints pay. The first order of business was probably to return home and supply himself with an arsenal. 

But just as he was about to flick his turn single on, he noticed something in his side mirror. He wasn’t sure what jumped out to him or why, just that it did. The red sports car a few vehicles back…it wasn’t the first time he’d seen it since he’d left the Fakes flat. In fact, he could swear it was following him.  
Frowning slightly, he instead went straight, forgoing the turn that would take him home in fear that he’d be compromised. 

Driving now with no purpose but to figure out if he was just being paranoid or not, he very quickly learned he was not. In fact, it only took him ten minutes to get an id on the driver. The orange hair gave her away. Jack.

He supposed he wasn’t surprised. He barely knew her and yet had already surmised that she was as sharp as a tack. Not to mention the one who trusted him the least. He actually remembered thinking to himself in the days previous that she would probably give him the most issues about joining the crew. It seemed that he was right about that. 

He considered for a moment pulling over and confronting her but decided against it. Any words he spoke to her he doubted she would take at face value. In fact, this might be his chance to show her that he was serious about the Fakes…that they had his loyalty. 

Pulling up to a red light, the mercenary plotted in a course to the parking garage that the meeting would take place in. It was across the city but easy enough to get to within the hour. But that meant that there would be no time to stop anywhere else to resupply…which meant he was stepping into this with only his pistol and the combat knife kept in his inner jacket. 

Frowning under his mask and pursing his lips, the Vagabond regarded the traffic around him as he made his way down the freeway. He’d survived odds that were stacked against him with only a pistol before, yes….but never by choice….and never on someone else’s terms. Rolling his shoulders, he steeled his resolve. They called him the Mad Mercenary for a reason.

Glancing in his mirror again, the Vagabond realized he’d lost track of Jack, or maybe she’d lost track of him. It was probably for the best anyway….this was going to get bloody.  
\----  
Stepping into the parking garage as casually as if he were taking a stroll, the Vagabond quickly picked out where he was meeting the Saints. He hadn’t seen Jack since the freeway and wondered if she had given up or gotten lost. As useful as it may have been having her witness this, he was secretly glad. Jack didn’t need to see this side of him…not yet at least. Turning his thoughts back to the Saints, he approached them without caution. 

Three men with guns on display loitered like body guards around a fourth who was sitting cross legged on top of the hood of an expensive car….He could only assume the fourth was Vincent.  
Dressed in a leather jacket and jeans, the gang boss appeared unarmed. His outfit seemed stark in contrast with the shock of died silver hair that was swept to the right and fell onto his forehead. 

At the mercenaries approach, the gang boss pulled himself to his feet and opened his arms in welcome. “The infamous Vagabond!” Vincent brought his gloved hands together to wring them in excitement. “I can’t express how pleased I am to meet you.”

Stopping about fifteen feet away from the man, the merc met the gang bosses yellow eyed gaze with his own piercing blue. Briefly he noted that the sheer yellow must be contacts before speaking. “Is that right?” He kept his voice pleasant, making sure to guard any anger that may darken it. 

“It’s not every day a legend seeks you out.” The Gang Boss grinned, “Perfect timing by the way, considering we may have a job for you.” 

Jaw tightening behind his mask, the merc knew immediately what they were going to ask of him. “The Fakes.” He drolled out, still keeping his voice tame. 

Taken aback, Vincent regarded the mercenary curiously. “How in the world did you know?” 

“You just shot their boss.”

Glancing back at the rest of his crew, the grin slipped back on Vincent’s face. “Word certainly travels fast.” He clapped his gloved hands together once more. “We were planning on finishing them off ourselves…” He paused for effect. “But since you so kindly rang, we would be pleased to hand off the honours to you.” After another moment of thought he added on, “And be happy to pay whatever fee you charge.”

Clapping his own hands together to mimic Vincent, the mercenary began a slow pace before the Saints. “I think you have the wrong idea here.” A darkness had slipped into his voice. It still seemed cheerful in tone, but something hid just behind the words that suggested danger. “You didn’t just shoot their boss…” 

He trailed off, stopping his pacing steps as he regarded the curious and worried expression on Vincent’s face. “You shot ‘my’ boss.”

The Gang leader actually took a stop back at the implications and threat behind the Vagabond’s tone. Narrowing his gaze and turning over the words in his head he finally spoke. Unlike before, the confidence in his voice was gone, replaced with a mixture of disbelief and worry. “What are you saying…” He trailed off shaking his head. “That you…you’re a Fake? You sold ‘out’? 

“They didn’t buy me.” The merc answered simply, buying time as he ran scenarios as to how he’d kill them all through his head. 

“Then why…?” Vincent breathed in disbelief.

The Vagabond let the question hang for a moment before answering, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” 

Regarding the merc for a moment, the gang boss finally spoke. “Well in that case…” 

As fast at drawing a weapon as the Vagabond was, his gun wasn’t as easily reached as Vincent’s was it seemed. That’s why, when the barrel of the gang bosses hand gun came into view, all the mercenary could do was spin away. And in what seemed to be an instant, pain seared through his forehead. Stumbling back dazed and wondering for a moment if this was it for him…if the shot had actually hit home, it only took that one moment of weakness for two people to have him by the arms. 

“Wow, you were quick on the reaction.” Most of the confidence seemed to be back in Vincent’s voice as he approached the mostly immobilized mercenary. “I see now how you’ve survived so long…it’s a pity you joined the Fakes. Seems like they were your downfall.” 

Not speaking as he reassessed the situation, the Vagabond set an unafraid and intense gaze on Vincent. What he was able to make out was that the bullet had only clipped the carbon fibre blend of his mask, shattering part of it which gauged into his forehead. He could feel the warmth of blood run past his eye and down his neck. 

“Not much to say now, hm?” The gang boss taunted as the rest of his crew members jeered behind him. 

Meeting the confident gaze with his own, the Vagabond laughed, the manic sound echoing throughout the parkade in a haunting way. “So there are six of you….” He pondered aloud, adding a purposeful touch of insanity to his tone. “I’ve killed more in one go.”

Face scrunching up in anger and distaste, the gang boss surged forward, bringing a knee up into the merc’s defenseless stomach. Despite the ommph that he couldn’t help but let out at the impact, the mercenary then responded with another laugh. All the while, he stayed docile in the grip of Vincent’s lackey’s, making no effort to escape.

Growling, Vincent narrowed his yellow eyes dangerously. “You laugh now…But let’s see how funny you think it all is without hiding behind that mask.” 

The Vagabond wasn’t even able to get a reply out before suddenly the comfortable weight of his mask was gone. Suddenly feeling considerably more vulnerable, he didn’t allow his expression to change, keeping the smug grin plastered on his face. All the while he was acutely aware of the six people studying his features and his mask now discarded casually on the pavement fifteen feet away.

Taken aback at the war paint, Vincent’s silver brows shot up for a moment before he got it together again. “And suddenly the Vagabond is just a man…” Vincent taunted, “I’m going to wipe that smug grin right off your face.”

“I’m going to wipe your smug crew right off the planet.” The merc couldn’t even appreciate the cleverness of his comeback before the first blow came. The fist struck him just beside the eye, breaking the skin and wrenching his head to the side. At the blossom of fresh pain, rather than moaning, he instead let out a laugh.  
In fact, when the next two fell, The Vagabond’s laughter became more and more deranged. Disturbed by the sound, Vincent only landed one more blow before withdrawing, his expression twisted in annoyance and alarm.  
“You really are insane.” He shook his head, looking down at the smudged face paint and blood on his gloves and then back up at the merc. 

“I just might be.” The Vagabond spoke, the dark grit to his voice a stark contrast to the fits of laughter he had been in only a moment before. 

Disturbed even more now than ever, Vincent licked his lips nervously. For all intents and purposes, he had the upper hand….this was his turf, his crew…he even had the Vagabond prisoner…so why was it that he felt like the prey in the situation?

It was time to end it. 

“Well.” He forced the confidence back into his voice. “We’re on a mission to off the Fakes. And since you supposedly are one…” He withdrew his handgun, about to lift it to the mercenaries head when suddenly there was a load pop of gunfire. 

When the grip on his left arm suddenly went slack as the Saint fell dead, the Vagabond didn’t even stop to consider what had happened. Instead he moved.  
Wrenching the still live Saint over as a shield just in time for him to catch the bullet Vincent had meant for him, the merc then surged forward tackling the gang boss. 

In the few seconds he was trying to wrestle the gun out of Vincent’s hands, pain suddenly seared through his calf. Not even thinking on what the injury was, the merc reacted only with a growl as he pushed the agony into the back of his mind to deal with later. 

A few seconds more saw him slamming the gun up and forward, straight into Vincent’s nose. Hearing the crunch as it broke and the yowl escape the man, the Vagabond yanked the weapon away, raising it in his right hand while keeping a firm grasp on the gang leader in his left.

Then, using the man as a shield he put a bullet in two of the other Saints who had been trying to line up a clear shot on him. In the time it took them to slip dead to the ground, the third and final lackey was already slipping into the stairwell in a desperate escape. 

Slamming a knee up into Vincent’s stomach and shoving him hard to the ground as he doubled over, the Vagabond put two well placed rounds into both of the gang bosses knees. He then patted him on the head, stated “I’ll be right back.” And jogged with a limping gate to catch up to the fleeing Saint. 

With yowling gasps that turned into whimpers as he lay in the growing pool of his own blood, the gang leader listened to the cacophony of gunshot in the stairwell before silence fell over the parkade. And even though all the gang leader could do was pray that his friend had killed the Vagabond he somehow ‘knew’….he knew that that was not the case. 

A minute passed before the door opened again with an ominous squeal and the mercenary stepped back out into the lowly lit cement room. His black hair was mostly free of its bun now, hanging around his shoulders in a wild mess and sticking to the blood now tacky on his face. Everything about him now exuded danger; his expression, his demeanour…even his very aura. 

Keening in fear and pain, Vincent tried to drag himself away from the slowly approaching man, leaving a trail of blood behind him. 

“Normally…” The Vagabond started, voice managing to be both cheery and dangerous at the same time. “I wouldn’t have killed all of you.” He took a few more deliberate steps towards Vincent as he continued. “You see, if no ones left alive…there’s no one to be afraid of me…” 

Only now that he was stalking Vincent like a predator would his pray did he again take note of the searing agony in his calf. Definitely a gunshot wound, he wasn’t sure the extent of it, but it didn’t feel great. 

“But you signed your own death warrant when you saw my face…” He continued, finally coming to a stop above the cowering and whimpering gang leader. “No one…” He paused for effect. “See’s my face and lives.” 

Stooping down, he hefted the smaller man up to his feet with surprising strength before slamming him into a nearby cement pillar. 

“Then again.” He narrowed his piercing gaze, voice becoming dark. “From now on, ‘no one’ will target the Fakes and live.” 

With that, he withdrew the combat knife from his inner jacket, and ignoring the pleas and weak struggling, drew a line of blood across Vincent’s throat.  
The Vagabond then let him drop to the cement with a sickening gurgle as he clutched at his throat. The cut was precise and deliberate. A slow and terrifying death rather than a bullet to the head.  
Now satisfied, the mercenary took a limping step back, all the pain from his accumulated injuries rushing back as the adrenaline faded. 

When a quiet sound behind him drew his attention, he almost reached for his gun before putting two and two together. Instead he dropped his hand to his side and slowly turned his intense gaze to look over his shoulder. Indeed, he was met with the sight of orange hair in the dim light. 

Swallowing, he finally turned fully, very aware that his mask was on the ground twenty feet away. 

“Hello, Jack.”


	7. chapter seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the Saints are dealt with, the Vagabond faces down something even more terrifying....trusting someone with his identity.

Swallowing, the redhead wasn’t actually sure how to proceed. What she had just witnessed….wasn’t anything she had been prepared for. The fact that the merc had just murdered 5 people ruthlessly was one thing. But he had done it for them. He had done it for Geoff. 

And now that everyone was dead except just the two of them…she became very aware that she was looking at his unmasked face. Even in the dim light and the mess of blood and face paint, Jack could still make out most of his features.  
She wasn’t actually sure what she was expecting…but the long hair was a surprise; particularly the fact that it was black seeing as how the stubble at his throat was blonde. His age also surprised her. Ray had said he was having a midlife crisis…but this man couldn’t be much older than she was, if even. 

Trying to get it together, she took a step out of the shadows, her feet echoing loudly in the huge and mostly empty space. Hearing her, Jack thought for a moment he was going to reach for his gun, but instead the man simply turned to regard her. 

“Hello, Jack.” He sounded tired now, all of the anger and intensity gone from his voice. Rather than speaking to the Vagabond, it seemed she was now speaking to the man under the mask. 

“How long did you know I was here?” Her voice came out less confidant then she had wanted it to. 

“I saw you tailing me on the freeway but lost track of you. I didn’t actually think you made it here until you shot that Saint.” He glanced over to the two men who had been holding him. One of them had fallen to Vincent’s own bullet, but the other had been killed by a perfect shot to the back of the head.  
“Thanks for the save, by the way.” 

Nodding slightly, the woman glanced down at the gun still gripped in her hand. She’d arrived just in time to the merc admitting to the enemy crew that he was with the Fakes. She wasn’t actually sure she was going to intervene at all until it became apparent that they were going to kill him. “So…how is this going to go?” She questioned him, keeping her voice steady. “Am I going to need this?” 

He knew immediately that she was referring to the fact that she’d seen his face.

Piercing blue eyes glancing down at the weapon still displayed in her good hand, the mercenary pursed his lips slightly before sighing.  
“No.” The exhaustion was clear in his voice. “I figured this was inevitable. It was just a little sooner than I wanted…” Taking a step towards his mask, the merc quickly realized he’d overestimated his leg and instead of the confidant walk he’d intended, he fell rather ungracefully to one knee. Grimacing in pain but not making a sound, he glanced down, quickly realizing that the wound was probably worse then he’d thought. In fact, he had been leaving a trail of blood droplets and single red footprints since his scuffle with Vincent. 

“You’re hurt.” Daring to replace her gun to where she’d had it safely tucked away in the small of her back, Jack made her way over to the merc. 

Pressing a hand over the wound, the Vagabond furrowed his brow. “It seems so…” He glanced up at the woman who was hovering a few feet away awkwardly. “Do me a favour?” He turned his gaze across the parking lot to his mask. 

Nodding, the redhead stepped over to retrieve it. Only when she picked it up did she realize how close a call it had been for their newest member. It was also a surprise how heavy the material it was. She had assumed at first glance it was hard plastic, but this actually offered way more protection than that. It made the shattered and cracked right side of the mask even more significant. “Jesus, you almost died.” She spoke accusingly as she walked back to where he was kneeling. 

“Yeah, probably.” He answered with a shrug. Vincent’s first shot had indeed been a surprise, yes. But as everything else went, he had had a plan on how to escape and kill them all. Jack’s assistance had merely made that part easier. She didn’t have to know that though.

Handing him the mask and holding out her hand to help him up, Jack spoke again. “You realize that you’re no help to us if you’re dead right?” Even as she pulled him to his feet and she realized just how much taller he was than her, it still didn’t stop her from continuing her rant. “Look, I don’t care how well you work alone. But now that you’re with us, you have to remember that we do things as a team. This should have been done with the whole crew.”

Meeting her eyes, the mercenary accepted her scolding without a word in his own defensive. “You’re right… Just something I have to get used to.” 

Surprised at his response, the redhead studied him for a moment before nodding. “Ok…” She was about to speak again when the merc wavered slightly, prompting her to reach out and steady him. Keeping her hand on his leather clad arm, her brow furrowed in worry. “Hey, you alright?” 

Glancing down at her from his considerable height, the mercenary couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips and the small chuckle that escaped him. “I think that’s the first time anyone has asked me that in over a decade…” He paused for a moment before nodding. “Yeah….I’m fine. I just need a bit of a patch up.” 

Nodding, Jack took a step forward, refusing to take her hand off the merc’s arm in case he toppled over.  
In the end, the two ended up walking back to Jack’s car with the Vagabond’s arm slung around her shoulders. 

“I’m driving.” Jack warned the man when he made a move towards the drivers seat.

“You have one arm.” He responded, humour back in his voice. 

“You have one leg.” She countered with a snort. 

“Fair point.” He replied before rounding the car in defeat.

By the time they were turning onto the streets, sirens could be heard closing in on the parcade. In this city, thankfully gun shots weren’t on the police’s high priority list. 

Trying to keep her focus on the road, Jack watched from the corner of her eye as the Vagabond pulled the ponytail that was knotted in his hair out and attempt to tame it back into a bun. Only then did he return his mask back to its place on his head, making a point of shoving his hair back into hiding.  
Catching her glances, he lowered his glaze. “Hey um..” He fumbled awkwardly over the words.

“Hm?” Jack glanced at him again. She was beginning to realize what Ray had meant when trying to describe the man. Most of her anxiety and distrust was gone now and she realized that probably the only thing they’d have to worry about was the merc’s recklessness. 

“Could you..uh…not tell them?” There really wasn’t any way to put it without making his fear and apprehension apparent. “About my face…that you saw it…” 

Jack glanced from the road back at him for a moment with her brow furrowed. The vulnerability of the words stuck her and she suddenly realized how big a deal this truly was. Ray had made it abundantly clear that he was paranoid about his identity. Not to mention what he himself had said to Vincent. The fact that he was trusting her with this made her realize how very serious he really was. “I won’t. I swear.” 

The sincerity behind her words put the mercenary a bit at ease. “Thanks.”  
\----  
“Daaaaym Jack, if I knew you were going to shoot him I wouldn’t have let you leave.” Michael was the first one to greet the two when they entered the flat. The mercenary was still being supported by Jack since the blood loss was now starting to make him a little woozy.

“I didn’t.” Jack huffed in exasperation. 

Rounding the corner from the kitchen, Gavin gawked slightly at the Vagabonds ragged appearance and the cracked state of his mask. “Jesus, what happened?”

“The Saints won’t be causing us any more trouble.” The merc laughed sheepishly, even as Jack was helping him over to one of the couches. 

“Wait…” Ray hadn’t even bothered getting up from where he was sitting on an adjacent couch. “You mean to tell us that you took out Vincent’s entire crew.” 

“Damn it! You can’t just go fucking killing people without letting us get a crack at them too!” Michael raised his voice in typical fashion, crossing his arms irritably. As much as the news that Jack and the Vagabond took out the entire rival crew by themselves shocked him, he couldn’t help but be angry that he didn’t get to take a few shots. 

The merc raised his hands defensively. “Yes, that has been thoroughly explained by Jack, I assure you.” 

“Fuck, man.” Ray leaned forward on the couch, taking in the Vagabonds injuries. “Is that…a bullet wound?” 

“Uhhh…Yup.” The merc answered with a shrug, accepting the towel that Jack handed him to apply pressure. 

“Treyco, our medic, is coming by to look at that.” At the first sign of the mercenary’s argument, Jack shut him down with a mere look. 

Sighing, the merc only nodded. He’d already done a bad today, he didn’t need or want any more of Jack’s wrath. “OK.” 

“Whoa…what’s happening?” 

All five heads turned to the source of the quiet and slurred voice. Geoff was slowly and awkwardly trying to prop himself up on the couch he was laying on which quickly prompted Jack to rush to his side. “Hey, hey, just move slow…” She spoke soothingly, helping prop her friend up. 

“How, uh…how long was I out?” He blinked the away the blurriness, struck suddenly with both a headache and a whole lot of pain. 

“Probably about 12 hours…” Turning and retrieving a bottle of pain meds and a glass of water from the table she handed them to him. 

Accepting them without question, Geoff tipped back the pills before grimacing. “Fuuck, isn’t there anything stronger than that?” 

Understanding that he was referring to the water, Michael quickly retrieved a bottle of whiskey, handing it to the appreciative and still half out of it gang leader. “Oh thanks…” 

Taking a swig, he set it down in his lap before finally taking a look around the room. Eyes settling on the Vagabond who looked up and simply stated “Hi” he blinked a few times before pursing his lips and nodding. Then turning his still squinted gaze back to Jack, Geoff spoke. “Yeah, so I’m dead, right?” 

Rolling her eyes, the redhead reached forward, pinching the man fairly hard on the harm and resulting in a high pitched squeal. “You’re not dead, Geoff.” 

Rubbing his arm and grimacing slightly, the older man looked around the room. “Ok. Someone has to explain to me what the fuck happened.”


	8. chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five months after the Vagabond joins the crew all of them are healed, it's finally time to pull together a heist. Bringing on a few extra members, Geoff has only high hopes for the outcome of their plan.   
> Things go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoop.  
> This took a bit longer then I had intended.   
> Probably because this was the weird in between scene that I needed and wanted to happen but had no idea how to make happen. Hopefully the next few scenes will come a bit easier.

Weeks passed with minimal activity for the crew. With literally half of them injured it was mostly up to Michael, Gavin and Ray to pull smaller jobs for any income at all. In reality it was mostly Michael who did all of the heavy lifting.   
For some reason he was more nervous than ever to see Ray and Gavin in the line of fire. He supposed after their two close misses he had a rational reason for that feeling. Both times, if the Vagabond hadn’t been there one of his friends would have been dead. He could only be glad that their unlucky streak seemed to turn around though. 

For the merc things were also looking up. To his pleasant surprise, Jack hadn’t said a word to anyone about what she saw that day in the parkade. In fact, she had left the story rather vague.

The merc spent the first few days after he’d been shot at home mostly, lounging back and playing video games.   
The first email that came in was from Ray, inviting him to the flat to hang out which he respectfully declined.   
The second email was from Jack, asking if he wanted to get food some time and get to know each other better. He’d declined that as well. She had indeed seen his face once, but he wasn’t exactly comfortable doing it again so soon. 

The third email that came in was signed from both Michael and Ray demanding that he come to the flat to play video games or and in their words “hang out and not be a creepy loner”. It was then that he really sat back and thought about it. The last time he’d seen the lot of them was right after a very nervous Treyco had patched up his leg. That was five days ago.  
Furrowing his brow a little in thought, he finally stood up. If he was going to sit around playing video games at home, he might as well sit around and play video games with the group of people that he had taken a bullet for. He was still a little iffy on what exactly being in a crew entailed, but he figured this would probably be a good start. 

Making his way to the bathroom with the limping gait he couldn’t help, he had already pulled his hair into a bun before he even arrived. Once there, he was about to reach for his face paints before he stopped short, hand hovering over the white.   
After a moment of contemplation, he picked up only the black, smeared enough around his eyes so it would be seen through the eye holes of his mask and turned away. 

-  
“I cannot believe you’re beating him, Michael.” Gavin stood with his arms crossed behind the couch as Michael, Ray and the notorious mercenary played Halo on the flat screen. 

“Maybe he gave up his ability to kill people in video games for the ability to kill people in real life.” Ray spoke next, voice monotone and eyes never leaving the screen.

The merc laughed when Ray shot him down again. “Not having any sort of peripheries doesn’t exactly help.” 

“Well whose fault is that?” Michael asked with a laugh, eyes never leaving the screen either. 

Despite all of their teasing, the merc wasn’t actually bad at the game at all. Gavin had actually opted out of playing once he saw the competition between the three of them…and he thought playing against Michael and Ray was bad enough. 

“Holy, fuck, you actually convinced him to come?” A surprised and tired voice sounded behind them as Geoff appeared. Tousled hair sticking in every way imaginable and wearing a rumpled T-shirt and jeans it was obvious that the gang boss had just crawled out of bed. 

“Yeah, it was actually easier than we thought.” Ray spoke, pausing for a moment before continuing, “Gavin owes me ten bucks.” 

“Wait, you actually bet on if I’d show up or not?” The merc allowed himself to die once more as he turned a humorous gaze on the two sitting beside him. 

“Yeah, Gav bet it would take 5 attempts. Ray bet it would take two.” Michael laughed glancing over at the merc. 

“And you?” The Vagabond prompted, with an unseen grin. 

The lad stuttered for a moment, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter what I bet.”

“Michael owes me fifty.” Ray answered simply, eliciting another chuckle from the merc. 

Approaching the second couch and flopping down, the gang boss watched the game lazily for a moment before speaking up. “Hey man, I never thanked you for taking out the Saints. I was pretty out of it before.” 

Pausing the game on his screen and setting his intense eyes on Geoff, the merc thought for a moment before shrugging. “You not mad that you didn’t get to take a shot at them yourself?” 

“Eeeehhh, maybe a little bit.” The gang boss shrugged. “But it’s one less thing off my mind.” He was quiet for a moment before speaking again in a lower tone. “I hope you made those mother fuckers suffer.” 

“Hey, what did happen that day?” Gavin chimed in, rounding the couch to sit beside Geoff. “Jack won’t tell us a bloody thing.” 

The Vagabond shrugged at the question. “Shot most of them, slit Vincent’s throat after popping him in both knees and watching him squirm around.”

The nonchalant way he spoke about what he’d done actually made Gavin shiver.

“Remind me not to fuck with you.” Ray finally tore his eyes away from the screen to shoot a look at the merc. 

“Does that mean you’re going to let me win this game?” 

“No fucking chance.”

\----

“You sure you’re ready for this, Geoff?” Ray’s voice crackled over the comm.

“Oh, shut up. We got this, what could go wrong?” The Gang boss responded.

The five months after the half of the gang now dubbed the gents got injured at least gave the gang boss some time to plan the next heist. Five months to coordinate not only the six main members of the Fake AH crew, but also a small secondary team.   
Had they the resources when they’d attempted their hit on the bank, their plan may have succeeded. This time, Geoff was doing it a little differently. But considering their track record he could only hope that things would turn out a little better then they usually did. 

This time, they were stealing the money before it even reached the bank. 

“Dammit Geoff, just great, you jinxed it.” Jack groaned over the comm, the sound of a choppers blades thumping in the background of her words.

“I didn’t jinx shit, we got this, right boys?” 

“Oh, hell yeah, boss. Suuure.” Michael spoke next. There was a pause before he spoke again. “You guys almost ready? Ray? Vagabond?” 

“We’re in position. We see you.” The baritone of the merc chimed in next. 

“B team? Matt, Jeremy?” Geoff spoke next.

“Copy that, we’re standing by.”

It having taken the merc months to even relax in the same room as the regular members of the Fake’s so he wasn’t sure how he felt about the two temporary additions in the heist. He’d only met the two men once in the planning stages. He’d nearly intimidated Matt right out of the planning room with his mere presence. The one they called lil J though…he didn’t seem so much afraid, rather than in awe to be working alongside the real Vagabond. 

But if all went well, they wouldn’t even need to meet during the heist. B team’s job was to run interference with the cops and spread as much heat as they could. They would also serve as back up if things got too bad.

“Everyone in position?” Michael spoke as the armoured truck came into view. After a chorus of agreement, he spoke again. “Alright you fucks, let’s DO THIS.”

At Michael’s words, the merc stepped on the gas, swerving into the far lane. Sure enough, once Ray, who was sniping out of the suv’s skyroof had a shot, he took it. It took him two perfect shots to penetrate the window of the armored truck and splatter the drivers head everywhere in the cab. 

Without a driver, the truck swerved violently into a passing car before flipping and sliding another forty some feet in a rain of sparks and squaling steel. Both Michael, who had been followings behind the truck and the Vagabond and Ray converged on the wreck. 

The armored truck had barely come to a stop before Michael had launched himself out of his car and covered the back in sticky bombs. 

“Michael, hurry up, you’re going to have company real soon.” Jack’s voice warned the younger man still on the ground. 

“I’m trying to slow them down, give me a moment.” Gavin chimed in. The brit was clear of danger, stationed nearby with a mobile setup. He’d already hacked the city’s mainframe and rerouted traffic to make it easier to complete the heist. 

Michael didn’t even speak again, instead diving behind his car and setting the explosives off. 

Once the doors were clean off the truck, the merc moved, leaving Ray safe in the suv. “We don’t have much time, Jack, bring it down.” 

As the chopper containing the gang boss and pilot hovered down above them, both Michael and the merc started shoving cash into duffels. Luckily it was packaged neatly and the blast hadn’t thrown loose bills everywhere. 

“We’ve intercepted police! Trying to lead them away.” Matt’s voice rang over the comm. 

“He didn’t get all of them. You’ve got two minutes boys.” Gavin spoke, voice quick.

“And lady.” Geoff corrected even as he caught a duffle thrown up to him from the strong arms of the merc. 

The sirens were dangerously close as the merc shoved money into the last duffle. “Ray! Michael, get in the chopper, I’ll toss this to you!” 

“Roger that.” Ray hadn’t even reached the latter that Michael was only half up on when the first shots rang out. 

“Damn it.” Ray swore, turning and making a sprint back to the suv. 

“Ray!” Geoff yelled as Michael clambered into the chopper next to him. 

“I’ve got him.” The merc had to yell to be heard over the sound of the choppers blades and the gunfire. “Take this!” A bullet whizzed by him, nearly clipping his mask as he threw the duffle up to the already ascending chopper. 

“Just get out of here!” Jack’s voice warned as she swerved the bird up and away from the polices assault. 

The Vagabond was acutely aware of the feeling of déjà vu at the situation as he made a mad dash back to the suv with the bullets whizzing by him. When he finally threw himself into the drivers seat he was already wearing two new bullet holes in the back of his jacket. 

“Look’s like it’s you and me again, dude.” Ray spoke from the back, concentrating on reloading his rifle as he voiced the very thing the merc had just been thinking. 

“Looks like.” The Vagabond answered, kicking it into drive and stepping on the gas. The violent jerk of the vehicle nearly sent Ray flying and elicited a startled yelp. 

“Fuck! I forgot how terrifying driving with you is.” His words were heated, yet this time full of humour and adrenaline. 

“Anyone would be terrifyingly bad at driving in this situation. I’m not exactly trying to obey the traffic laws here.” The merc spoke with a chuckle. 

“Shit, guys, you may have a tinsy bit of a problem.” Gavin’s voice cut in over the com. 

“Gavin swore!” Jack spoke next, awe and worry in her voice. “How bad is it, Gav?”

“Vagabond, Ray, I’ve hacked into the polices radar. You have a bungload of cops converging on you right now.”

“What’s a bungload?” The merc questioned, careful not to allow worry to slip into his voice.

“Like…fifty squad cars.” 

“Any choppers?” 

“One, but it’s on Matt.”

“Let me worry about it, I got this.” Matt answered quickly enough over the com. 

“I’m coming at you.” Jeremy spoke next. “I’ll try and help.” 

“Just get out of there guys. Do what you have to.” Jack spoke next followed closely by Geoff.

“We got Michael and the money safe. Don’t any of you dare die.”

“Thanks Geoff, we’ll try.” Ray answered sarcastically. 

“We’re going dark on the com to avoid attention. Good luck guys. We’ll see you in a bit.” Jack was the final one to speak as her, Geoff’s and Michael’s lines went dead.   
As the minutes passed and the chase continued with no end in sight, Ray took yet another shot out the back window. And his aim was once again true, blasting through the front wind shield of the police cruser and into the driver. As the car swerved, it took out not one but two of the cops behind them. 

“Great shot!” The merc exclaimed. Just as Ray was about to respond an explosion rocked the entire suv, nearly tipping it onto its side. Gloved hands violently spinning the wheel, the Vagabond was able to keep it right side up but not before noticing the fire spilling from until the hood. 

“Do they have a god damned rocket launcher?” Ears still ringing and a little shaken but unharmed, Ray yelled the words a little more loudly than needed. 

“Yes, and it’s time to go!” Grabbing Rays sweater, the merc pulled the sniper from the suv just as the next explosion of flames engulfed the vehicle followed closely by a spray of bullets. 

Slipping into the nearest back lane, the Vagabond shoved Ray behind the cover of a couple dumpers before joining him in a huff. 

The only weapons he’s managed to save from the car was his semi automatic, the handgun in his inner jacket and the rifle that Ray was still clutching in shaking hands. Noticing the younger man quivering, he furrowed his brow under his mask. 

“Ray, are you ok?” 

“I uh…” The sniper glanced down at himself, wincing at the growing spot of blood on his side.

“Fuck.” The merc growled, this time unable to keep the worry and anger out of his voice. 

“I think it’s…just a graze.” It was obvious that the sniper was trying to keep the pain out of his voice, but as much as he tried he couldn’t help the slight waver at the end. 

“Aren’t you wearing body armour?” The Vagabond hissed. “Ray we discussed this.” 

“I know dude, I just…” He paused to huff a breath. “I didn’t think I’d need it. It weighs me down. 

“Here.” The merc spoke gruffly, unzipping his blue shouldered jacket and pulling it off before unbuckling his own armour with deft hands. 

“No… no way…dude….you need that.” 

“I can take a bullet. But if you’re shot again you won’t survive it. You’re such a string bean as it is.” The merc spoke as he pulled it over his head.

“Dude, please…It would be no good if we’re both dead.” Ray pressed a hand over his side, wincing in pain as he did. 

“It’s Ryan. And you’re not going to die, I’m getting you out of this.”

Using the moment of shock that the sniper fell into at the mention of the name, the merc managed to pull the body armour over his head. He’d already done half of the buckles before the younger man managed to speak. 

“W-wait. Say that again.”

The sound of foot falls at the end of the ally distracted the Vagabond from answering. “No time. He hissed, finishing the last buckle before hefting up the semi automatic. “They’re onto us.” 

Peering out from behind the dumpster, most of the view from the end of the ally was the still fiery wreckage of their vehicle. Well, that and three armed police. Flinging his weapon out, he blind fired down the alley, satisfied when he heard more than one cry of pain. Taking that as his cue, he launched himself out and into a shoulder roll, finishing the last cop after coming up into a crouch. 

Moving again, he grabbed Ray by the sleeve, tugging him along. But as the two ran it became obvious that the sniper was slowing down. “You gotta keep moving Ray, come on.” 

“-I’m just….really tired….feeling light headed…” The younger man huffed. 

“You have to move, Ray, just a little further..” The merc prompted, not exactly sure what his plan would be. He wasn’t used to protecting people. He could usually get himself out of a tight spot…but this was a first for him.

“-F-Fuck..” Ray hissed, coming to a full stop. “I ca-“ He didn’t even finish the sentence before the Vagabond hefted him up into his arms bridal style, leaving both his pink rifle, and the semi-automatic sandwiched between them. 

“Wha-“ 

“Shut up. Take my automatic and shoot whoever you can.” The merc hissed, already hearing the shouts of police about to round the corner behind them. He just had to make it another fifty feet to the other end of the ally and hopefully there would be a car he could hijack. 

He readjusted as Ray squirmed himself to look over the merc’s shoulder, hefting the semi automatic up so he had a shot down the alley. When Ray unleashed a round, the fire was surprisingly loud in his ear, but he shook it off, focusing on his sprint. The sound would have been louder if he hadn't been wearing his mask anyway.

He only had another thirty feet to go when two things happened. Just as the sight of a cop car pulled up to block their escape, he suddenly felt the impact in his back. Having been shot multiple times, he really didn’t let that jerk stop him, until of course the searing pain kicked in. 

Feeling the impact right through the merc’s chest, the sniper cried out. But his yell was lost in the shouts of the cops that had spilled out of the squad car in front of them. They didn’t even give a warning before opening fire on the two. Two of the three shots managed to catch Ray in the back, the borrowed body armor expertly stopping them.   
Before the cops were able to fire any more, their assault was cut short, interrupted by a loud squeal of tires and thundering crash as both the squad car and their bodies were just about obliterated. At about the same time as the crash a loud, “BOOOOOM!” was yelled into the comm. 

“GUYS!” This time the voice was both from the com and the car door that was flung open on the passenger side. “GET IN.” 

Brows raised and struggling to stay on his feet, the merc was shocked to see exactly who it was who saved them. It only took him a moment to shake off the shock, steel his resolve and finish the mad dash down the alley and into Jeremy’s awaiting get a way car. 

As soon as the door was shut, the young man in the drivers seat spoke. “How you both doin’ on the fine evening.” He punctuated his words by stepping on the gas. Despite the gore and debris that splattered his now cracked windshield, the sports car wasn’t too badly damaged it seemed. Well…other then the partially flattened front…but that didn’t stop the car from going fast.

“Thanks for the save, man.” Ray managed to grit out, getting his feet underneath him before speaking again. “But yeah…b-both of us are shot.” 

“I’ll be ok, but you have to get us out of here.” The merc spoke, pain seeming to be the furthest thing from his voice. In fact, he seemed so calm and put together, Ray second guessed himself, wondering if the man had been shot at all.

It was only until he reclaimed his weapon and turned to fire on the police did the sniper see the amount of blood pouring in rivers down the black and blue leather from one of the multiple bullet holes in the jacket. 

As soon as Jeremy heard the words, his entire demeanor changed. “Shit, ok.” He glanced out the window into his side view mirror nervously. “I’ll get us out of this, just gimmie a minute.”


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With both Ray and the Vagabond bleeding out in different degree's it's up to lil J to get them to safety. But even when he does, one of them is knocking on deaths door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I feel like the quality of my writing isn't standing up to the previous chapter. But that's normally how it goes when I take an extended break. I'm just pleased that I had motivation and able to continue writing this at all whoops 
> 
> As for story, I knew where this was going but I feel like I didn't do it justice. Oh well, I have the next chapter better planned out in my head. (I better considering it was one of the two scenes that caused me to write this fic in the first place.)

Holding on to anything he could so as to not be thrown around the car with one hand, Ray pressed his other as tightly to his side as he could. This was probably the worst injury he’d ever gotten and something inside of him was terrified to even look at it. He could feel his heart throbbing in his throat, the blood rushing loud in his ears.

Giving his head a shake, he tried to refocus his attention away from the searing pain onto something else, so instead, he focused on the Vagabond…Ryan…if he had heard what the man had said correctly. Putting an actual name to the person he’s gotten to know over the last few months was a strange thing. 

The merc was still hanging half out the window returning fire on the cops, the popping shots from his automatic loud and resounding through the car. 

This continued for another five minutes as Jeremy still desperately tore through the city streets. As they swerved into an ally and around a building, the Vagabond pulled back into the car and slumped back against the seat. Shoulders heaving, he pressed his shoulder back into the leather of the seat and grit his teeth. The pain wasn’t what was getting to him, he knew that much. It rarely did.  
It was the blood loss messing with his head, blurring his thoughts and vision. 

“Yo, you ok?”  
At Ray’s worried and pained words, he let out a laugh which despite his best efforts sounded strained. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just…y’know blood loss. Kinda gets in your head….or out of it…depending on how you look at it.”

Ray let out his own strained laugh, humor thick in his voice even now, “Yeah, I feel you.” His drawn face grew serious when he saw how dull the merc’s normally so sharp eyes had become. “Hey uh…maybe you should…I dunno..take it easy…until someone can patch us up.” 

Cutting in before the Vagabond could reply, their savior spoke. “I think we’ve got you guys covered on the escape front at least.” Lil J’s hands flew over the wheel, expertly spinning the car into the dark cover of a parking garage and out of sight of the road. Kicking it into reverse, he backed up even further into the corner and beside another already parked car. He knew the cops hadn’t had a visual on them for a few minutes now and he could only hope that they’d continue south on a fruitless chase. “If we lay low here for a few minutes, I don’t think they’ll find us.” 

“Let’s hope.” 

The sirens wailed closer, prompting the merc to clutch his weapon in weakening gloved hands. But like their driver had hoped, the sound flew past. After a few minutes, the sirens dissipated entirely and couldn’t even be heard from the distance. 

“You think they’re gone?” Ray spoke quietly as he glanced over at Jeremy before nervously peering towards the opening of the parking garage. From where they were sitting, he couldn’t even see the street. 

“Yeah, I think we’re good.” Jeremy whispered back. Shifting out of park and into drive, he crept forward until they could see the street. Sure enough, it was empty of police. 

“Why are we whispering?” Ray spoke back, voice still lowered. 

“I don’t know.” Jeremy whispered back. “You started it.” 

Slowly turning back onto the street, the B team driver fell into normal traffic, as if that would stop the cops from recognizing their car. 

“Oh, thank god.” Ray huffed a breath. “I think we’re good now.” He shut his eyes for a moment before forcing them open again. With his head all fuzzy and his side throbbing he worried what accidently drifting off would mean. Pressing his arm into his side once more, he was given a hard reminder that he still wore the merc’s body armor. At the pressure he put on it, the heavy material pressed into his wound, causing a flash of searing pain but also hopefully stopping the blood flow. 

Gritting his teeth in pain, Ray looked down at the armor. He would absolutely be dead if the Vagabond…Ryan…hadn’t strapped it onto him. He could still feel the dull ache of where the bullets impacted onto his back in the ally. “Hey uh..” He wasn’t sure what name to use now…remembering little J was in the car he stuck with what he knew. “Hey, Vagabond, you were right. Thanks for the save man. I think I’m going to take your advice on the armor thing now.” He let out a sheepish laugh, glancing at the man beside him. 

When the merc didn’t seem to move, Ray’s heart jumped into his throat again but this time for a different reason. “Hey, Vagabond.” He shifted, taking the man by the leather clad shoulder and giving him a shake. At the rough movement, the mercs head fell slightly to the side giving the sniper a look at his closed eyes behind his mask. “Oh…fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” 

“What? What is it?” Lil J shot a few glances over his shoulder, wanting to know what was happening but also trying to keep his eyes on the road. 

“Drive faster.”  
\-----

Managing to dodge any more police, Little J finally managed to pull into Geoff’s personal garage until the building. Before he had even parked, Ray was dialling Michael’s number. 

“Hey dude!! We were wondering if you’d made it out!” There was both excitement and relief in the demolition experts voice. 

“Yeah, about that.” Ray couldn’t keep the waver of pain out of his voice at this point. All he wanted to do was close his eyes. “We’re going to need you down in the parking garage. I’m phoning you and now Geoff because we need someone strong.” He paused. “Actually, get anyone down here that you can. And call Treyco.” 

There was silence over the line as Ray listened to muffled voices in the background. After a moment, Michael’s voice returned, sounding uncharacteristically serious. “We’re on our way down.”  
\---  
“Fuck.” Was the first thing out of Michael’s mouth when he jogged out of the elevator with both Geoff and Jack and saw what exactly was going on. 

Ray was leaning against the side of Jeremy’s car wearing the Vagabonds body armor over his purple sweater. But it seemed that either the armor hadn’t helped or had been to late considering the amount of blood that had soaked through his side all the way down his jeans and had just started leaving tiny red spots on the floor. His hands were coated in blood as well, although even at a quick glace he didn’t appear to be injured.

“Jesus…” was Geoff’s response as they converged on the sniper. 

“Oh, god, what the hell happened?” Jack grabbed Ray’s arm, noting the pallor of his skin as she slung his arm around her neck. “Treyco’s on his way. You’ll be ok.”

“S’not me I’m worried about.” The sniper grit out, turning his head to where little J was bent into the open door of the car.

“Oh, fuck me. Fuck.” Geoff cursed when he and Michael rounded the car. 

“Story for another time I think.” Little J responded, barely daring to look away from where he was trying to apply pressure to the Vagabond’s back. “Help me with him.” 

Michael, the stronger between he and Geoff stepped forward first, helping the much shorter man hoist the unconscious Vagabond out of the back seat of the car. All the while, the gang boss hovered behind them, pacing slightly with nerves. 

“Is he alive?” Geoff asked, voice nervous. “Ohhh fuck, that’s a lot of blood..” Despite both Ray’s and Jeremy’s effort to stem the blood flow, it had already began soaking into the mercenary’s jeans.  
In desperation, Ray had, with difficulty, stripped the merc’s signature jacket off to better access the wound. But that also gave a better view of his already very blood soaked T-shirt. Since it was black it mostly just looked wet.

“I don’t know.” Jeremy responded, voice equally worried as he helped Michael drag the dead weight of the merc towards the elevator. Despite the two of them, the Vagabond was surprisingly heavy. 

\---

When Treyco finally arrived, it was to Geoff and Michael hovering around a pale and blood soaked Ray on the couch. At the state of the sniper, the medic blanched, “Holy crap, you guys really have to stop getting shot…” He was about to set his bags down when he both Ray spoke up. 

“You’ll wanna head down that hall first. I’m not the one dying quite yet.” The sniper was just able to hold it together as he lifted a still blood stained hand to point down the flat’s hall. Geoff had managed to stem the bleeding, so for now Ray wasn’t the priority. 

At the words, Treyco’s brows furrowed even more. “What…do you mean…” 

“Follow me…” Michael was uncharacteristically solemn as he led the medic down the hall. 

Gavin was pacing outside of a closed door, wringing his hands and as pale as a sheet. Trevor assumed his pallor was born out of some sort of worry, but Michael knew better. The brit had just spent ten minutes in the washroom wretching. It was the blood. It didn’t normally get to him, but something about the sheer amount of it, as well as it belonging to his friends got to him. 

“It’s a relief you’re here.” Gavin stopped his pacing when he laid eyes on the medic. “Jack’s still in there with him. She won’t let any of the rest of us in.” 

“Seeing as how all of you are out here and safe….I’m going to assume it’s the Vagabond on deaths door.” Trevor eyed the fakes nervously. The merc had always made him nervous. The infamous Vagabond. The man who had killed so many people, even the police couldn’t even put a body count on him. The stories about him…the rumors painted him at more than a man…or less depending on who you talked to. Some called him a monster, others a demon.  
But when Treyco finally slipped into the room, closing the door behind him, all of those rumors came crashing down around him. The ‘monster’ people were so afraid of…that he had been so afraid of seemed a lot less terrifying now that he was laying face down on the bed covered in his own blood and unconscious. 

“H-Holy shit.” The medic sputtered causing Jack to look up. The redhead was still hunched over the merc, applying pressure to the wound. Her face was drawn and exhausted, her expression pained. 

“Oh, thank god you’re here.” She finally spoke. “I don’t- I… I didn’t know what else we could do.” 

Once Michael and little J had wrestled the dead weight of the merc into the flat and onto the guest room bed, Jack had shooed them all out. As of now, the black mask was still in place, but she wasn’t sure if it would stay that way in the process of saving his life. Being the only one who had seen his face, the redhead felt he’d appreciate them preserving his privacy, if he survived. She quickly shook the thought from her mind.  
He was going to survive. 

It was slow going but in the past five months since that time in the parking garage, the Vagabond was finally opening up to them. He was less the silent and awkward loner and more of…a dork really. They were only now getting to know the man under the mask and she wasn’t going to lose him now. Not to mention in that time…he’d become part of their crew and was well on his way to becoming part of their little oddball, fucked up, family. 

Stepping back and letting Treyco set up, she repeated the words in her head. 

He was going to survive.  
\-----

It wasn’t pain that woke him, in fact, he wasn’t sure if he was even awake. The world felt like a dream, like his consciousness wasn’t in his body but somewhere else. Floating above him in some strange partial reality.  
After a moment of nauseating floating, he finally cracked his eyes. Even though his vision was blurry at first, it helped the weird dreamlike haze to dissipate. 

Squinting even in the soft light, he raised a hand to rub his eyes. Immediately he recognized the lack of strength in his limbs which caused a spark of fear to ignite in his chest. Weakness wasn’t something he was used to, nor was vulnerability. 

Eyes snapping open, he tried to jolt upright but strong hands quickly caught him, forcing him back down. 

Embarrassingly slow considering his norm, he flung a hand over to wrap around the wrist of whoever was holding him down. Had he been at his peak, he probably would have broken it, but as of how, he could barely get his fingers to obey him. They felt as if he’d been out standing in the cold for hours. 

But as he managed to get his wits back around him, did he realize that someone was speaking. The voice seemed like it faded into existence as he suddenly became aware of it. “—‘s ok. Hey, shhhh, it’s ok, you’re safe. It’s only me, you’re ok.” 

Blue eyes finally regaining their focus, the Vagabond blinked a few times as his gaze fell on the face looking down on him. “..Oh…hey, Jack.” He managed to croak out, voice a rasp. He tried to clear his throat but it didn’t help.

“Here…” The woman reached forward, helping him prop himself up slightly before handing him a glass of water. 

Still in a partial haze and mostly on autopilot, his fingers just brushed the glass as he was reaching to take it when realization snapped into place. Blinking a few times, he looked down on himself.  
Propped up in an unfamiliar bed, white bandages and gauze were wrapped around his bare chest. The sight of his long black hair hanging loose against his shoulders was a bit of a shock. Eyes widening, he removed the hand from the glass to reach up and touch his face. Indeed, his mask was gone as well, and after a closer inspection with his fingers, so was most of his face paint.  
Something close to distrust sparked within him, not a rational thing, but an emotion born of habit. Giving Jack the side eye, he rasped once more. “Why.” 

“Don’t worry, I’m the only one who’s seen your face. I made sure of that. The door is locked and no one else has come in.” 

The merc’s brow twitched slightly at that, mind racing. After a moment, the tension left his shoulders as more of the fog cleared from his head. Things were coming back to him now. The heist, the car chase…their van nearly exploding…Ra-. “Ray.” For some reason sudden worry for the young man filled him.

“He’s fine. His wound wasn’t nearly as bad as yours.” Jack’s expression changed to one of sincere gratitude. “I don’t know how much you remember…but you saved his life.” 

“I suppose so….” The Vagabond rasped, trying to put events back into place in his head. After a pause, he spoke again. “He needs his own body armor.” 

“We know,” A sad smile tugged at her lips. “Geoff and I were going to give him the lecture, but he already knows. It’s not like he’ll really say if, but he feels really damn bad about nearly getting you killed.”

At her words, the merc only shrugged, an action that caused a sudden spike of pain through his back and shoulder. It had been a dull throb before, which would have been uncomfortable on anyone else but was lost on him, now it was something even he couldn’t ignore. Hissing in pain, which was uncharacteristic for him, he furrowed his brow. “I knew I’d been shot… How bad?” 

“It would have been worse if the bullet hadn’t gotten wedged somewhere in your shoulder blade. Or at least that’s what Treyco says. Mostly you just nearly bled out. It was a close call.” 

“Sorry.” So unsure of what else to say, the apology slipped out for some reason. 

Taken aback, Jack frowned. “You saved Ray, nearly dying in the process and you’re apologizing to me?” Jack shook her head.

“Hey, cut me some slack, I can still barely remember my own name.” 

Jack snorted a quiet laugh under her breath. It was good that he was aware enough to start up his usually sarcastic banter. And like if often was, it was at his own expense. Playing along, she gave him a sly glance. “Some think that you don’t have one, you know.” She paused. “A name.” 

At this, the Vagabond stopped, the memory of him telling Ray his name in crystal clear detail. Giving Jack the side eye again, he tried to size up what she knew. Had Ray told them? Was this some sort of bait to get him to give it up to her?  
…Oh well, it was going to get out sooner or later. “I told Ray.”

“What?” If Jack hadn’t been taken aback before, she was now. 

“It’s Ryan.”

The woman only blinked at him, mouth opening for a moment as she looked at him in shock. “I…I wasn’t trying to pry…I..I didn’t mean for-” 

“No, it’s fine.” The merc nearly shrugged again, but caught himself in time. “I told Ray after he’d been shot. It was the only reason I was able to get my body armor onto him without an argument.” He chuckled. “He reacted like you, froze up and gave me enough time to get it over his head.” After a pause, despite how serious the entire conversation and decision was, the light-hearted expression never left his face.  
He’d nearly just died protecting Ray…the Fakes. The only reason he kept his identity to himself was to keep himself alive. What was the point if he was going to die for them anyway?

“Wow…” Jack’s face was a mix of awe and appreciation. “Thanks.”

Unsure what to say and causing a bit of an awkward silence to span between them the merc finally broke it.

“Can you pass me that water now? Or maybe a diet coke?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't edit it. It's very late at night. I kind of binge wrote it in one go and I'm impatient as hell. So please overlook any spelling and grammar mistakes oops


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With wounds still healing and Geoff dealing with the crew's rise to power, there's some time left over for a bit of fun. Fun...and another chance encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one without a reread. I really couldn't be bothered. So forgive any mistakes.

Fully aware that the merc she had trapped in the pent houses guest room wanted nothing more than to leave it, Jack was both surprised and touched that he stayed there for as long as he did. As the days passed the Vagabond grew more and more antsy.  
He was uncomfortable there, she knew that well enough. This was the first time she’d seen him for more than five hours at one time after all. Despite how well he was fitting in with the crew, he always seemed to nervous to stay in one for a long period of time.  
Jack was beginning to wonder how much of that was actually Ryan, and how much of it came was the persona he put on, the Vagabond. 

After a week, she couldn’t make him stay put anymore in good conscious. She would either have to help him in his endeavor to leave, or have him slink off into the night like the ghost she knew he could be. Which would not only make them all worry but also risk his health, something she knew already that he had no problem doing. 

Tying back his hair and slipping his mask back over his head, the merc was thrilled to finally be up and moving. His shoulder and back still hurt but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. Most of all he was just tired.  
Sleeping in a room that wasn’t his own while knowing other people were under the same roof resulted in him getting barely three hours of sleep. He woke to the slightest sound or shift in the building. It was like his body’s natural defenses were set on high regardless of how he felt on the matter. And it wasn’t that he didn’t trust the Fakes, he did, but there was still that feeling deep inside of him. It was a feeling that had built up over the years and years of the life he had lived.  
Sleeping with one proverbial eye open had kept him alive for a very long time. Unlike the so many mercenaries that tried to take up in this city.

He would be relieved to be home, alone, and somewhere where he could relax in every sense of the word. But as of right now, he was mostly glad to be up moving, and finally out of the room. 

Jack had done everything she could to keep him appeased, even going so far as to lend him her laptop. He knew of course, that moving around with the injury he had wasn’t a good idea, but he was going stir crazy. He knew it, and so did Jack.  
The last two days of the seven day bed ridden sentence had put him and Jack in a head to head battle of wits. He had to give her credit though, that woman was stubborn. It was out of respect that he stayed put until the end of the week. 

To his relief, people mostly left him alone other than Jack. And that was probably largely because Jack had his strange understanding of him. One of the first things she had asked was if he wanted visitors to keep him company. He had declined that offer. He hated his vulnerability…the weakness in his body. His entire image was built on his immovable and invincible reputation. 

The only exception to that rule had been Ray and that had been a special request. Seeing as Ray was the reason he was in here…not that he blamed the young man or was angry in any way, he had agreed. It wasn’t even a begrudging acceptance. He was mostly curious about what the sniper had to say. 

Apparently not a lot, he thought to himself, when Ray entered the room. Jack had given him warning so he could put his mask back into place, but otherwise he looked pretty unlike himself. Ray had obviously noticed it too, seeing as he had glanced awkwardly at the merc upon entered but then refused to make eye contact.

“So what, you gonna just stand there all awkward like?” The merc looked up at the sniper expectantly. Seeing that the younger man was struggling for words, the Vagabond spoke again. “Come over here and sit down.” 

Doing as he was told, the sniper found the chair in the corner that usually held Jack, and sat awkwardly. Finally after a moment he spoke, spitting out the words in rapid fire. “Hey, man, look I’m really s-“

Before he could finish the merc cut him off. “Hey, no, it’s ok. Don’t apologize.” He paused for a moment in thought before continuing. “Look, we all make mistakes. You’ve learned from yours now, so I’m told, and you’ll be stronger for it. You’re alive, I’m alive, that’s all that matters.” 

“Yeah, right..” Ray trailed off and the awkward silence filled the room once more. This time it was Ray who broke it. “Have you been wearing that mask in here the entire time? Damn you really weren’t kidding about your secret identity.”

“So much for the secret identity if you know my name.” The merc chuckled when the saw how taken aback the sniper was.

“I thought you were just fucking around to be honest. Or that it was a nickname or something. Is it your actual name?” Ray seemed to have relaxed a little bit now, curiosity bringing him forward on the chair rather than nerves. 

“Yeah. Mostly anyway. It’s technically my middle name. My first name was attached to the identity I burnt back when I became the Vagabond. Ryan is the only one I got left.” 

“Does anyone else know it?” 

“It’s the name I use when I’m not the Vagabond, so I suppose some do. My landlord probably. You, Jack, and whoever you told.”

Ray was about to make a crack about him not being the Vagabond when the realization of what he’d just said kicked in. “Wait. Jack? Jack knows? Why?” 

“Well with you, Michael and Gavin gossiping how you do, I assumed it would be the first thing you told them. I figured everyone already knew so I told her.” The merc shrugged. The motion caused a spike of pain but nothing quite like when he’d first woken up and talked to Jack. This didn’t even cause him to wince.

Ray became uncharacteristically serious for a moment before speaking. “No I didn’t. You’re one of us, Ryan, I wouldn’t betray your trust like that. I know how you are about your privacy and shit.” 

Hearing his name spoken aloud to him was a strange feeling. Not even Jack had gotten the nerve to refer to him as such yet. But looking past his name, Ray’s words touched him.  
“Thanks Ray…” Was all he managed to get out. There was a lot of things he wanted to say but couldn’t manage to word properly. Like how stupid he knew he was being. About how he trusted them as well and that him wearing the mask didn’t have anything really to do with that anymore. Instead he changed the subject.  
“So how’s your side? I thought you were going to die in my arms.”

Ray looked away sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck and letting out a rough laugh. “yeah, it was just a graze. Turns out I’m a pussy.”

“Goddam it Ray, you just wanted me to carry your lazy ass down that ally, didn’t you?”

The sniper laughed. “No I swear, I was gonna pass out. But apparently it was mostly in my head. Treyco said the blood loss was bad but I wasn’t on deaths door.” 

“I dunno, you looked pretty bad in the car.” Ryan humoured the sniper, a grin plastered behind his mask. 

“Yeah, and so does Gav when he’s about to yak. Same thing apparently.” 

“So wait, you get queezy around injuries? Really? I didn’t think you’d be the type?” 

“Shut up! I’d never been shot before, ok?” 

The two ended up in a fit of laughter at how ludicrous the situation was. Here they were, two criminals who had just been shot in the chase following a semi successful heist laughing about how they had both just BEEN SHOT. 

“Anyway, I should probably go. Let you rest.” 

The merc groaned. “I’ve had more then enough rest. Maybe if you could…y’know, distract Jack so I could escape.”

“Oh, no. No way man.” Ray replied as he made his way to the door. “Right now I’m more afraid of Jack than I am of you.” 

The merc only grinned. He hadn’t been serious anyway. “Fair point.” That woman was terrifying in her own right.  
\-----  
Getting to his feet, Ryan was glad to feel the strength returning to his body. He’d stood and strolled around the room more than once just for something to do, but this was the first time he didn’t feel quite tipsy. And even so, Jack watched like a hawk from the corner, waiting to help him if he needed it. 

“You good?” She prompted, leaning against the wall and pretending to relax. 

“Oh, for the l-“ He sighed, not finishing his exasperated sentence. “Yes, Jack, I feel fine. How did I ever survive without you?” 

The redhead snorted at his sarcasm. “Yeah I’m wondering that too.” 

\---  
Walking out into the main living area of the flat was an odd sensation, leaving him awkward and unsure. All four of the other Fakes seemed to be waiting for him like it was some surprise birthday party. And that in itself made him even more awkward. 

He played it off with a shrug though. “All this for me? You shouldn’t have.” 

Outwardly, the merc seemed just fine. With a pristine black T-shirt, jeans, and his mask back in place there was really nothing that suggested he still had a bullet hole in his back. 

“HEEEYY!!” I chorus of cheers erupted as Michael and Gavin swarmed him. 

“He lives!” Geoff exclaimed from where he was perched on the bar stool. 

Ray, like usual, didn’t get up. Instead he raised his hand from where he was lounging on the couch in a small solute. For some reason, that little motion gave him more comfort than the whole ordeal. It make him seem normal. 

“I hope this celebration isn’t all for me.” The merc spoke, his words blatently hoenst. 

“Not entirely.” Geoff admitted. “We put off our celebration until the whole crew could make it.” He grinned. “But now that we are all here….we fucking did it.” 

“Hell yes we did.” Michael replied, grin on his own face. 

“Eighty fucking grand, boys!” Geoff barely made it through the final word before letting out a whoop of glee. 

Now that the attention was off of him, Ryan felt more normal. Eighty fucking grand was something to celebrate about after all.  
\---

“AAAHH!!” The rest of the crew could hear the panicked voice in their ear, courtesy of Michael.

“This is getting grim.” 

“Cover me, cover me!!”

“Oh, you have got cover.”

“Holy shit!” The curse was followed by the sound of gunfire.

“Come on, we almost got it, come on.” 

“Aaaahh!!!”

“Go, go! GO!”

“Just keep giving them cover!”

“Oh, no…Michael…” Gavin’s timid voice crackled through the comm.

“I see you Gav, just follow me.”

“Just stay in cover.” 

“I’ve put about a thousand bullets into them!” Geoff spoke next, his voice high strung and panicked. 

“Oh, he’s still there!” 

“Oh I think I got him…I got him Jack, let’s go!!”

“Gavin, follow me, nothing will kill us, except for each other.”

“Urgh-“ The sound of gunfire was so loud in their ears they almost missed the quiet sound. 

“Fuck! We lost Ryan!” 

“RYYAAN!! NOOOO, You BASTARDS! Urghh!-“ 

“Ray? I think we lost Ray!?” They all could hear a quiet muffled laughter in their ears behind Michael's voice. 

“Yeah, you fucking did. Nice support you assholes.” 

The sounds of laughing filled Ryan’s headset as he adjusted it, listening to the dying breathing of the rest of the crew before the “End Game” Screen filled his monitor. Despite being the first to go down, his stats were considerably better than Gavin who had racked up a total of three kills next to his twenty seven. Life mimics art, as they say.

“Well, we did better than we normally do.” Jack’s voice filled their headphones. 

“You know what amazes me?” It was Geoff speaking next. “How the fuck do we manage to pull off a successful job but not win a fucking match in this video game?”

“Have we ever pulled off a successful job?” Ray’s usual sarcasm filled their ears next. 

“Well…I mean….If you don’t count a few bullet holes, then sure. Successful.” Ryan spoke next.

“Another game?”

“Wait, if we’re gonna play again, we’re gonna need bev’s. And snacks.” Gavin spoke next. 

Michael quickly agreed to his suggestion. “Hell yeah, I’m fukcing HUNgry. Gavvy, you’re on fuel duty.”

“Wha!? Why me?”

“You’re the one that suggested it, idiot.” Geoff snorted into the mic.

“Fiiine.” 

There was the sound of shuffling and a thump as Gavin took off his headphones, his voice dissipated away from the mic.

“I haven’t really eaten all day, I think I’ll follow Gavin’s lead.” The merc spoke next. 

“That’s a first. I wouldn’t feel safe ever following Gavin’s lead.”  
There was a muffled squak in the distance followed by Jack’s laughing voice over the com. 

“I’ll be back. Then another game.”

Removing his headphones, the mercenary stretched slightly before standing. He’d been home for about a month now. Home…but not fully recovered. Still riding the success of their armored truck heist, Geoff had been currently focused on the crews expansion and dealings. Just in the last month they’d grown from the small upstart crew to people who were actually on the gang map of Los Santos. And with that publicity came danger.  
So when the gang boss wasn’t in secret meetings or securing deals and territory he was usually engaged in something equally important. It was why this night was so important to them. It was to give them all a break. 

Geoff, Jack, Gavin and Michael were all at the Flat. Both Ray and Ryan were playing from home, both of them using their injuries as an excuse not to come. The merc’s reason was mostly laziness but Ray’s was probably that he had a better server connection at home.

Wearing a navy blue T-shirt and not even bothering to put his hair up, the merc grabbed his keys and left. This wasn’t exactly a ‘Vagabond’ situation. 

Driving to the nearest convience store, which doubled as a gas station, he swung in and parked. Despite it only being around 7pm, the sun was already making it’s descent behind the horizon, painting the sky orange and red. Taking a moment to watch the sky, the merc then stepped out of his car and into the store. 

Making a bee line for the diet coke, he hefted a twelve pack under his arm before perusing their selection of hot food. Turning his nose up at it, he instead stepped over to their refrigerators and picked out the newest looking sandwich they had. He wasn’t really picky anyway. It would do. 

Turning towards the counter with the purpose of paying in mind, did he finally focus in on the other person in the store. He had of course passively noticed that he wasn’t alone, but he hadn’t really taken a good look at the man with the blue button down shirt…and the blonde hair spiked in the front….

Freezing for a moment, his first reaction was to sneak away but shook it off. That was the reaction a man without friends would have. That was the reaction a lone mercenary with no cares and no ties would have.  
So instead, he relaxed as much as he could and got in line behind the brit. 

Watching Gavin unload an arm full of not only an array of alcohol was also snacks, Ryan couldn’t help but try and calculate the ‘chances’ of this happening. And to his sheer disbelief and awe, he happened to be watching when the younger man patted down his pockets for a wallet and came up with empty hands. “oh, bugger, It’s in the car, one sec…” 

He was about to leave, when a strong hand landed on his shoulder. Being tall himself, it was strange for Gavin to have to look up at someone. Frowning, he was about to speak when the slightly familiar face waved a card around and emptied his own arms onto the counter. 

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Gavin frowned, watching perplexed as the dark haired man motioned to everything on the counter before raising his card to the clerk. 

Frown turning into one of deep though and concentration, the brit tried to place the man in his mind. He had a unique look after all, with his height, long dark hair and blonde roots. It took him until the man finished the transition and accepted the receipt for Gavin to place him in his mind. He squawked loudly at the realization. 

“You’re that bloke I paid for almost half a year ago! What are the chances, eh?” The only reason he remembered it was because it was the day before their bank heist. Normally he wasn’t that giving to anyone, but he had been trying to rack up any sort of good karma he could get. Not that it helped AT ALL seeing how terrible that job had gone.

The man only smiled, piercing blue eyes crinkling around the edges. He then nodded, before gathering up his things and leaving the store. 

Thinking nothing more of the unexpected and chance encounter, Gavin retrieved the few bags from the counter and followed suit a few minutes after. But as he left the store and stepped into the darkening parking lot, he was met with a familiar car. 

The sports car parked four spaces away from his own wasn’t exactly flashy, but it was expensive and hard to miss. Not to mention, very familiar. The man leaning against it with arms crossed however…. 

Standing frozen in place for a moment as his brain tried to put two and two together, Gavin couldn’t really process what he was seeing. He knew what his brain was trying to tell him, but that couldn’t be real. 

“That. That look on your face is EXACTLY why I decided to stick around.” The merc spoke, grin spreading across his face. Messing with Gavin was one of his favorite things to do. As much as letting another person know who he was made him nervous, the reaction he knew he’d get from Gavin was too much to pass up.

Unable to stop it, Gavin let out another squawk. His movement then was like a physical stutter, lurching forward for a moment before coming to a stop. “No, you can’t be serious. Ryan!?” 

The merc chuckled. “I am being very serious, Gavin. As you can probably tell.” 

Squawking again and almost dropping his bags, the brit then approached the merc at a run. 

Raising his hands in defense and with little time before impact, all Ryan was able to get out was “Bullet hole! Bullet hole!!” He’d seen Gavin do this before when excited but normally not to him. It usually resulted in him scaling the person like a tree, usually to sit on their shoulders. No one was really sure why he did it. Michael theorized that mostly it was to bother whoever he was doing it to. Jack thought that he also did it when he was tremendously excited. 

Luckily, at the Vagabond’s exclamation, the brit skidded to a halt in front of him instead. “Bloody hell, that is you, isn’t it!? I can’t…I HOh!”

Ryan only snorted, rounding his car to the driver’s side. “How bout we get in to discuss this before you yell everything to the entire world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped. But I was finally able to get the full circle in, which was the plan from the beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a beta and I don't plan to get one. So sorry bout any mistakes.  
> Characterization is hard. oh well.


End file.
